We Can Figure It Out
by Sucker4Scandal
Summary: Olivia meets Fitz while running errands. Naturally, there is an immediate spark between them. They have to figure out each others clues before they can go on their first date though. We all know the drill. He's Fitz. She's Olivia. It's gonna be great!
1. Chapter 1

**So Sorry! I had to change the title, because a story with the previous title had a large following & I didn't realize it! No disrespect intended! I hope this one works for everyone. I did a quick search of ff with this same title and found none. Again, my apologies. **

Who the Hell is Fitz?

She parked her car at the curb of the busy city street and stepped out, making sure to lock the door behind her. New York was known for having lots of attractions that brought thousands of people to visit the city every day. But it was also known for a high crime rate. So she was careful. It was a beautiful summer day; the rare kind where the sun was actually shining and the people she passed by were in good moods. She looked up at the blue sky full of tall steel buildings, closed her eyes, and inhaled deeply. These kind of days didn't happen all the time and she took a moment to fully enjoy it. A catcall from a construction worker across the street brought her back to reality. The moment was over. With her sunglasses sitting on her nose, she threw her keys into her purse and walked into the dry cleaners.

There was a line. Of course there was a line, she reminded herself as she rolled her eyes and walked up to the counter to get a little red ticket. She was pressed for time and the rules of nature always say, 'when you are in a hurry, no one else is.' She glanced at her watch and quietly groaned. In an effort to keep her mind off of her impatience, she glanced around the room. Her eyes landed on the mirror above the service counter where she caught a pair of the bluest eyes looking back at her. Time seemed to freeze the moment their eyes locked. His gaze was intense, like he was trying to memorize everything about her face. She knew she should look away but somehow she couldn't bring herself to do so. He smiled at her and she smiled back. They stared at each other for a few moments before she broke the connection. She looked at the people in line ahead of her and realized there was only one person in between them.

The lady working the counter smiled and called out "Hey, Mr. Prescott. I've got your things all together. I appreciate you calling ahead to let us know you were on your way." The man standing in between the two strangers stepped up to the counter, skipping two other people in line, and pissing off everyone in the process. The man ignored the loud impatient sighs from the other customers, smiled hugely at the employee, paid for his items, and left.

Olivia vaguely saw the man standing between her and Mr. Blue Eyes walk up to the counter and collect his dry cleaning. She wasn't mad that he had been served out of turn because she had a perfect view of the back of this man. He had sandy brown hair with a head full of curls. From there she noticed that he had broad shoulders and a well defined muscular back underneath the tight blue t-shirt he was wearing. As her eyes roamed even further south, she saw a perfect ass covered up in blue jeans. She hummed in appreciation as she stared unashamedly at this man.

Mr. Blue Eyes must have heard the girly noises she was making behind him, because he turned around suddenly and asked, "Do you see something you like?" He was grinning at her as she continued to stare at his ass.

"Most definitely." She slid her sunglasses up onto her head as her eyes very slowly made their way up to his. This six foot tall cool drink of water was just as enjoyable to look at from the front as he was from the back. Damn! She gave him the once over again, smiling in the process. "Mr. Prescott calling ahead for his dry cleaning has definitely made my outlook on today a lot nicer."

"Tough day huh?" He was getting an eyeful himself, just not in the blatantly obvious way she had done to him. She was a beautiful woman, stunning really. She had on a melon colored sundress held up by those skinny straps. He bet they slid off her shoulders at random times during the day. Her dark hair hung loose and wavy past her shoulders. And her brown eyes. They were...well, right now they were staring unabashedly at his crotch. He raised his eyebrows at her obvious fascination. What the hell was her problem? He snapped his fingers a few times in front of her face to regain her attention. When those delicious chocolate brown eyes met his own again, he smiled at her. "Although I don't know you well enough yet to tell you his name, mine is Fitz." He stuck out his hand.

Olivia tipped her head back and laughed loudly. Once she composed herself, she stuck out her right hand and shook his. He had really big hands. Was everything on this man as big as it appeared? Her imagination was in overdrive. "I'd apologize for checking you out, but it happens to me on a daily basis. I figure fair is fair. I hope you aren't offended, but you have a fantastic ass from what I can see."

Just then the lady working the counter called out his ticket number. He didn't move, but instead was riveted to the spot he was standing, staring intently into her eyes. The lady called his number again, and without taking his eyes off of the woman standing in front of him he said, "Go to the next person please."

Olivia raised her eyebrows at his commitment to their conversation. You don't fool around with dry cleaning. Another number was called out. She looked down at the red ticket in her hand and said, "that's me." She walked away from him and toward the counter glimpsing up into the mirror once again. She knew what he was doing without looking, but it was validated by the reflection she saw. He was looking at her ass. She set her purse on the counter, gave the woman, named Teresa, her ticket and waited while she went into the back to pick up the garments.

Olivia reached into her purse and pulled out her ringing cell phone. She looked at the face of it and smiled. "Hello Cyrus. How are you today?" After the pleasantries were exchanged she asked, "Are we still on for our meeting at lunch?" Pause. "Oh, you want to meet away from the office. Uh oh, this sounds serious. Where would you like to meet?" Pause "I don't know where that is." She ransacked through her purse quickly finding one of her company pens but came up empty on scrap paper. "Hold on a second. I need something to write on. She put him on mute and set her phone on top of her purse. She leaned far over the counter with her ass in the air in hopes of finding anything to write on.

All of a sudden she was keenly aware of someone very close behind her. Fitz had his very impressive crotch lightly pressed up against her ass. She heard him growl in his throat before she whipped her head over her shoulder and was met with a smug look. He said nothing, but handed her a small oddly shaped piece of paper and took two steps backwards.

Olivia grabbed her phone from her purse and unmuted Cyrus. "Are you still there? Ok, give me the address." She wrote furiously on the small paper and threw it in her purse. "Ok, I've got it. I'll meet you there at three o'clock. If I'm late, please order me a big glass of wine. I've got to tell you about the dry cleaners." She looked over at Fitz and smirked. "I'll talk to you soon. Bye Cyrus." She ended the call and threw her phone into her purse on top of the piece of paper she had just written on.

Teresa returned with Olivia's dry cleaning. She paid for it and turned around to see Fitz standing there with a grin on his face. "Thank you. I appreciate the paper too," she flirted with a grin of her own. "I believe this is yours." She handed him the pen. He was mesmerized by her openness. He took the pen and held it in his hand. "I really have to go, but it was very nice meeting you, Fitz."

As she started to walk away from him, he stepped into her path. "You have a fantastic ass too, although that dress does nothing for it." He smiled at her and mustered up his courage. "I would like to invite you to dinner, but I don't even know your name."

"I'm Olivia. And I must say, this is the most fun I've ever had at the dry cleaners." She chuckled.

"Olivia," he breathed. "It's very nice to meet you. Would you like to go to dinner with me sometime? We could go anywhere you'd like."

She studied his face for a moment. Maybe it was the blue eyes. Or the curls. Or the intense look that was on his face right now. But she found herself saying, "Yes. I'd like that very much, Fitz."

"Great! How can I get in touch with you? Do you want to give me your phone number so we can figure out a good evening?" He pulled out his phone to program her number into it. He looked at her expectantly.

She smiled at him showing perfect white teeth. "I don't think so."

She stepped around him and walked towards the door. As she pulled it open, she heard him say, "No?" He asked in utter confusion. "How am I supposed to get in touch with you?" Did she just say no after agreeing to a date with him?

Olivia slid her sunglasses back over her eyes and said over her shoulder, "I'll bet you're a smart man. You'll figure it out." And with that she walked out into the sunny day and drove off, leaving a very bewildered Fitz standing in the middle of a now empty dry cleaners.

Back at the office, a few hours later, she willed the elevator to go faster. She had a meeting with one of the partners about an upcoming case and she was about to be late for it. Not technically late, since it was her day off, but it wouldn't look good for appearance sake. Running errands on a beautiful day had not been a good idea. She had walked slower to enjoy the weather. She talked to people she saw because they were friendlier and less rushed. Now she was going to pay for her relaxed afternoon with a few hours of intensity at work. Olivia had to swing by her desk to pick up her notes and then get to the conference room. She was on the tenth floor and her meeting was on the nineteenth. She wanted to chide herself for flirting with Fitz earlier, but the view alone made it well worth it. She would have thoughts of his body on her mind all day. Fourteenth floor. She glanced at her watch and saw that she had ten minutes left. She might just make it if there weren't any stops for the next five floors. She heard her phone buzz letting her know she had a text message. She opened the text from her assistant, Yvonne. 'WHERE ARE YOU?'

Olivia rolled her eyes and text back 'I'm in the elevator. Get my file ready. I'm going to need you to hand it to me like an Olympic relay race pass.' She dropped her phone in her purse and again looked up at the digital number. Olivia was surprised to discover that she had reached her destination. The elevator dinged and the shiny doors opened. She speed walked to her assistants desk, who was staring at her with huge eyes but had the file in her hand. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Yvonne looked at Olivia deadpanned and asked, "Who the hell is Fitz?"

Olivia halted all movement and, instead of answering the question, asked one of her own. "What? I don't have time for this right now, Yvonne. I've got to get to my meeting with Abby."

Yvonne beckoned Olivia to follow her into Olivia's office. "Well, you need to make time, or this big ass arrangement of roses is gonna die." Yvonne said with a smirk. She picked up the card and read it aloud as Olivia looked at three dozen red roses completely bewildered. "'I figured it out. Dinner? -Fitz.' What has he figured out?" Yvonne looked over at Olivia, who was now holding the card and...what the hell was that on her face? A huge grin. "Earth to Olivia! Go to your meeting, but we ARE talking about this when you get back!" Yvonne shoved her in the direction of the conference room.

Olivia shook herself out of the moment and dashed off to her meeting with Abby. She walked into the conference room a tad late, but her friend didn't notice because she was typing on her laptop while on the phone. Abby looked up at her, smiled, and pointed at the closest chair. She sat down and opened the file in front of her as she waited for Abby to finish up what she was doing.

She found it difficult to be mentally present with thoughts of her conversation with Fitz playing on a loop in her mind. He had figured out that she had given him one of her company pens after the craziness at the dry cleaners. He was a smart man. And a handsome one with a perfect body too. That intelligent, handsome, and perfect man had sent her roses! She was definitely going to dinner with him.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a clearing throat. Olivia looked over at Abby and smiled. "Do you want to tell me why you're late? Or should I guess?" Abby was also one of the partners in the law firm where Olivia worked. They had been friends since college and had stuck together through thick and thin. They started working for the law firm fresh out of college and both had made partner within a year of each other. Abby loved to lord over Olivia the fact that she had made partner first. Olivia gave Abby a side eye look coupled with an innocent smile. "I KNEW it! You met a guy. Tell me everything," Abby said as she shut her laptop.

"Abby, we really don't have time for this right now," Olivia began. They had a lot of work to do before she left to go meet Cyrus. "We need to finalize this document after running a fine tooth comb through it for loopholes."

"Liv! Don't make me sit in the conference room reading this boring thing when you have a man story. You and I both know that we can do this in an hour and it will be perfection for our client. Not all of us got to spend the morning outside flirting with strange hot men. Some of us were stuck in the office, doing actual work." Abby tried for a pouty face but Olivia was very familiar with this tactic.

"Well, that's what happens when you make partner before me. You get to stay in the office and do mental labor while I get to skip out and...see the sights this city has to offer." She said with a knowing smile. "So let's get started because I have a meeting with Cyrus in an hour and a half. I'm going to make you put your money where your mouth is and see if we can get this handled in an hour."

Abby was still sitting behind the huge conference room table, laptop closed, making no attempt to do anything. She looked Olivia in the eye and firmly said "No."

"No?" Liv said in a challenged tone.

"Yea, we're not working on that file today."

"Abby, we don't have time for games. That file..."

"Is already done. I emailed you the revisions and the client has already approved them." It was a sweet victory for Abby just for the dumbfounded look on Olivia's face. "If you had bothered to check your emails while you were out chatting up hot guys, you would already know this information. But who has time for emails when Mr. Tie Me Up is trying to flirt with you? So, I forgive you." Abby leaned toward her friend and touched her arm. "Now spill all the juicy details, you greedy bitch so I can live vicariously through you!"

"Abby, you are shameless!" Olivia exclaimed through laughter. She sympathized with her friend to a point. Abby was happily engaged to Stephen, a close friend of Olivia's. Their wedding was just a few short months away, and while Abby was completely ready to run down the aisle and start her life with Stephen, she enjoyed hearing Olivia's exciting stories about how she met men. "I'm really proud of you for getting those revisions done and taking care of the client so quickly. I think you are amazing, Abby." Olivia touched Abby's arm and smiled at her.

"I AM amazing! Now, stop dragging your ass and spill it! And don't leave anything out." Abby exclaimed. Just then a knock was heard on the full length glass window. Abby looked up and saw Liv's assistant, Yvonne. With a huge smile on her face, Abby motioned her in and muttered between her teeth, "What the hell does she want?" In a louder sing song voice she said, "Hi, Yvonne! How are you today?"

Yvonne smiled at Abby and just as enthusiastically said to her, "I'm great, Abby. You doing ok?" Not waiting for an answer, she turned her head to Olivia and said, "This were just messengered over to you and I think it requires your immediate attention."

Yvonne held out the envelope, but Olivia didn't take it. Instead she calmly said, "As you know, I get things messengered to my office all the time, Yvonne. I'm sure this can wait until my meeting with Abby is done." Olivia smiled at her assistant as a way of dismissing her.

Yvonne kept looking at Olivia as if she hadn't spoken at all. "The meeting where the two of you come in here and talk about how you meet men all over the state of New York in great detail and giggle over it like two horny teenagers? That meeting?" Olivia raised her eyebrows to the sky and looked over at Abby for help. "Don't deny it. Everyone in the office knows about your weekly 'meeting'. Besides, I saw the email Abby copied you on about the revised file." Yvonne smiled sweetly at the two professional women who smiled sweetly right back at her.

"Fine! What is this anyways? Which company is it from?" Olivia reached out for the offered envelope but it was pulled back, out of her reach before she got it. "Yvonne, what the hell are you doing? Do you want me to look at this or not? I thought it was important?" Olivia was starting to get irritated.

Yvonne was not one to mince words, so she just said it. "It's from Fitz. I wasn't sure how..."

"Fitz? Are you sure?" Olivia asked, getting to her feet.

"Who the hell is Fitz?" Abby asked excitedly.

"...far into your story you had gotten. And I didn't know..." Olivia saw Abby jump up out of her seat and grab the envelope out of Yvonne's hand. Abby was NOT going to see whatever it was that Fitz had messengered over to her before she could even tell her all about meeting him in the first place! "...if you actually told Abby the names of the men you meet or if you used a code name to protect their identity, or what."

Abby looked at the envelope and committed the address to memory. She contemplated opening the envelope but knew her friend would kill her. Abby mostly just liked messing with Olivia. She looked up at Olivia with a huge conspirators grin and again asked, "Whose Fitz?"

Olivia snatched the envelope out of Abby's hand, and held it against her breast. She regained her composure and opened the envelope in front of the two women. Something that sounded like a squeal came out of her tiny body and she grinned as she read the contents inside. Yvonne looked over at Abby with a questioning look on her face, but Abby just shrugged. "What is it Liv?"

"It's a handwritten note. It says:

 _I've bought two tickets for the Broadway play, Hamilton, for us to see this Saturday night._

 _If you can figure out how to get in touch with me, I'll pick you up at 5 and we'll have that_

 _promised dinner before the show. I_ _gave_ _you a clue_ _this morning._

 _You look like a smart girl. I'll bet you can figure it out._

 _Talk soon – Fitz_

Defeated, Olivia put the note back into the envelope and tossed it on the conference room table. "I was flirting with him and I didn't get his number. I gave him one of my office pens and that's how he figured out where I work to send me the roses and this note."

"WAIT! You got roses, tickets to see THE best Broadway play ever made, and a mysteriously coded handwritten note?" Abby was stupefied! "That's it! I'm breaking up with Stephen and I'm going to take classes from you on how to have your life! This is so unfair!"

"I'll be signing up for that class too!" Yvonne turned to Abby all smiles and gave her an enthusiastic high five. As they both turned to look at Olivia their expressions changed dramatically. In her best Cher voice Yvonne exclaimed, "Snap out of it!" Abby snickered as Yvonne continued. "He gave you a clue. You need to figure it out instead of moping around like a lost dog. Do I have to do everything around here?"

"I still haven't heard the story about how you met him! I'm owed that! And Yvonne is owed it too, seeing as she's trying so hard to help." Yvonne gave Abby a royal nod as the two of them took a chair and waited for Olivia to follow suit.

"Ok but you are getting the condensed version because I have a clue to find." The three of them sat in the conference room for the next fifteen minutes as Olivia shared her morning at the dry cleaners with them. There were hearty 'oooohs', 'aaaahs', and 'dayums' exclaimed through it. At the end of her tale, Abby and Yvonne had their mouths hanging open in pure shock. They couldn't believe she had left him standing there without getting his number.

"Well," Abby began as they all headed for the door, "If you don't figure out how to get in touch with him, you don't deserve him. He's probably too hot for you anyways."

"You're such a good friend, Abby. Thank you." Liv said as she swatted Abby's arm.

"You've got to go to your meeting with Mr. Beene. You really shouldn't be late for that like you were with our meeting, so move your skinny ass." Abby held the door open for the two women who were both chuckling at her. "Liv, if you ever decide you need a new assistant, I'm calling dibs on Yvonne." Abby was grinning at her. "She has spunk and I really admire that in a person." Yvonne couldn't keep the smile off of her own face.


	2. Hello Cupcake

Hello Cupcake

Olivia sat in the drivers seat of her car and riffled through her purse. She was looking for the piece of paper she had written the address on of the restaurant she was to be meeting Cyrus at. Once she found it, she entered it into Google maps on her iPhone and put it back into her purse. She drove with the top of her car down. Partly because it was still absolutely gorgeous outside. And partly because this was a meeting with an old friend and her last meeting of the day. The sun felt gloriously warm on her almost bare shoulders as she weaved through the other cars on the road.

She thought about the note Fitz had delivered to her office. He said he had given her a clue. But she had no idea what he was talking about. She thought back to their entire conversation to see if she could remember something that he might have said about his job, or his last name, or anything of substance. Nothing came to mind. She was usually very good with challenges. It's part of what made her a good lawyer earning a good salary. But this one was beyond challenging. What the hell did he mean? She would have to really dissect their conversation in depth later at home, where she could think in peace. She admired his sense of humor. He had thrown her own sassy words back at her and it was well played.

She pulled up in front of the restaurant and the valet came to open her car door. She handed him the keys and gave him a smile. He smiled back and she walked inside in search of Cyrus. After asking the hostess where she might find Mr. Beene, she was escorted to a table he was seated at outside under a brightly colored umbrella sipping a glass of wine. He stood up and hugged her. "Hi Liv. You look beautiful as always." He pulled her chair out and waited until she sat before he took his own seat again.

Olivia requested a glass of whatever Cyrus was sipping on and the hostess silently walked away. "You are looking good, yourself. How have you been, Cyrus?"

They enjoyed small talk for a few minutes and then Cyrus told her the reason for the meeting. "Liv, James wants to adopt a baby. I've put him off for as long as I can, giving him all the excuses in the world. He's like a dog with a bone and won't relent. I'm not getting any younger, so I wanted your help on private adoption. I want to know what my options are, what the risks are, and as much information as I can possibly get before I tell James I'm ready and we move forward with it. What do you think?"

Olivia was speechless but not entirely surprised. Being old friends with Cyrus meant she had been to his home and had dinners with he and James. And James had told her about his desire for a child. She knew  
it was coming, but never thought she would hear Cyrus say he was ready. She sipped her wine the hostess had left in front of her and pondered how to proceed. "James has been wanting a child for a very long time. Anyone who knows him knows that. He hasn't exactly made it a secret. And while it will be difficult, it won't be impossible. Have you talked to him about details of adoption? Like do the two of you want a son or a daughter? Do you have a particular race or nationality in mind? Does any of that matter to either of you as long as you have a child in the end? Do the two of you want an infant? Or an older child? There are lots of things to figure out, but the two of you need to be on the same page."

Truth be told, Cyrus didn't want a baby. He hated babies. They were loud and selfish and dependent for everything except breathing. He had no love in his heart for babies. But he did have love in every fiber of his being for James. And Cyrus would do anything for James. If that meant adopting a baby from Guam, Utah, or anywhere in between, he would do it. Olivia had brought up good points that he and James needed to discuss. He wondered if James had thought about them. "Good advice Liv. I hadn't really thought about any of that. You'd think having a baby was easy, buuut we are talking about babies. Nothing is easy when it comes to babies."

Olivia touched his arm and said, "Are you sure you're ready for this? I know you aren't a fan of babies, so I understand where the sarcasm is coming from. But you are going to have to mask that when a baby is actually in your house, Cyrus. Babies pick up on things like that and it can make them more fussy."

"Liv, please stop talking. It's no secret that I'm not the maternal type. Babies, children, and teenagers are a lot of work. They are exhausting from what I've seen. But are you telling me that by ignoring those feelings to make my husband happy, I am going to make a difficult situation even more difficult?" Cyrus motioned to the waitress closest to him and asked for another glass of wine. This was some heavy shit to process.

Olivia chuckled and smiled at him fondly. Cyrus was like her favorite uncle. He acted like a grumpy grandfather most of the time, but those who knew him knew that he was warm and caring. Truth be told, Olivia liked both sides of him. He challenged her mentally by debating issues in conversation and still genuinely cared about her like a father. "In a nutshell, yes. It's going to be a long process to go through before you get a baby in your house. Both of your backgrounds will be gone through very thoroughly. Your financial records will also be looked at in great depth. Friends of both of yours will be interviewed in order to learn more about your relationship with each other, and your marriage will be dissected. But if you want a son or daughter, it's all part of the required first steps of getting that accomplished."

Cyrus waved his hand in front of his face dismissively. "They can look in all of that until they are blue in the face. There aren't any irregularities or discrepancies to be found. We have been very transparent with each other in all things. There aren't any skeletons to be found. James wants a child, Liv. No matter how I feel about it, I know it would make him happy. And I'd do anything to make him happy." He took a sip of his wine and smiled at her. "I'm actually surprised I've gotten away with waiting this long to give him one."

Olivia chuckled at him. "Some people think you are a mean old man, but I see a man still in love and wanting to do anything for that. I think it's terribly romantic. I'm actually jealous of what the two of you have, Cy." She watched as his smile grew at her words. "Do you have any other questions for me?"

"About this? No. I have a lot of things to discuss with James before we can proceed. You should come over one night for dinner and talk it through with us. But you did mention earlier on the phone something about the dry cleaners? What was that all about?" Cyrus watched as Olivia downed the contents of her wine in one gulp. "Whoa! This is gonna be a good one. Tell me all about it."

Olivia set the wine glass down on the table as the waitress came and took their order and then walked away. She filled him in on her morning excitement, leaving nothing out. Cyrus was a rapt audience, listening to every detail of her story, including the flowers as well as the note that were both delivered to her office. When she got to the end his face scrunched up in question. "I've thought about it somewhat, but I cannot for the life of me figure out what clue he is talking about. I think he's playing games with me, or he's really not interested in me at all."

"Honey, he asked you out. He sent roses to your place of work. He has purchased tickets to Hamilton, which cost him a pretty penny, let me tell you. He's definitely interested. You're just not paying attention to the details. Think back to when you were talking to him. Don't think about it as a story to tell. Think about the specifics of what happened."

"Since I received the note at work, I've focused on little else, Cyrus. Believe me, I've thought about it. I was going to sit at home tonight and pick apart everything that happened for an idea of what he is talking about." Olivia was getting slightly frustrated.

"Let's see if we can figure it out now." Cyrus looked at his watch and smiled. "I've got a few hours before James gets home from work, and two intelligent heads, such as ours, are definitely better than one. Let's talk it through from the top."

Their meals were served, they ate at a leisurely pace, and talked in between bites. They had switched to drinking water because they both had to drive home later. Midway through the meal, Cyrus asked, "You can't remember him saying his last name? He said nothing about his job or where he lives?"

"I don't remember every single thing he said because I was completely mesmerized by his body. It should be shameful, but it really isn't. Cyrus, this man is pretty damn close to perfection." She propped her elbow on the table and rested her chin on her palm, thinking, but coming up empty.

"Did he give you anything? His dry cleaning ticket? Anything at all?" Cyrus was getting frustrated too and really wanted to solve this puzzle, mostly for her but partly for his own sanity.

Olivia halfheartedly sighed and gave an unenthusiastic "No, nothing." They sat in silence for a few moments when Olivia reached for her purse in the seat beside her. "Actually, that's not true." She started looking through it until she found what she was looking for. She held up the small piece of paper and help it up to show Cyrus. "Remember when we were on the phone this morning? And I had to write down the address of this restaurant? While I was searching for something to write on, he handed this to me and that's what I wrote it on. It's the only thing he gave me. It's not a clue though."

She started to crumble it in her hand, but Cyrus plucked the tiny paper out of her hand with a huge smile on his face. She started to protest but he cut her off. "This is the scrap paper he gave you?" At her confused nod he chuckled. "And you never bothered to look at the other side of this 'scrap paper' did you?" Olivia opened her mouth to speak but he was quicker. "Because if you had done that, you would have found your clue."

Cyrus flipped the strangely shaped piece of paper over so that Olivia was looking at a very sharp looking business card and Cyrus was looking at the hen scratched address in her penmanship. She snatched the card out of his hand with wide eyes and held it closer so she could read it. It was in the shape of a cupcake.

The Sweet Spot  
Fitzgerald Grant III  
Owner and Baker

"Holy shit! Cyrus! You figured it out!" She squealed as she jumped out of her chair and hugged him tight. He reciprocated the hug just as excited as she was to have finally figured the mystery out. "I never thought anything about this. I thought it was just a random piece of paper he found laying on the counter in there." She was grinning from ear to ear now and humming with excitement. Still grasping the business card tightly, she sat back down in her chair and went back into thinking mode. Cyrus was amazed at the quick transformation that happened right in front of him. "What am I going to say to him? How do I respond?"

"Really, Liv?" Cyrus rolled his eyes. "Why is that a concern at this point? Just call him and tell him you found his card and that you'll be ready by five on Saturday." Straight people were hard work these days, he thought to himself.

"Cyrus, I have been carrying around this mans business card all day long because he gave it to me and never said anything. He sent roses to my office because he figured out that I gave him one of my company pens. He has basically challenged me to find this card in order for us to go out on a date. He's smart and creative. There's NO way I'm going to just call him and say, 'Hey, this is Olivia from the dry cleaners. Let's go out.' I need to get creative. Give me some ideas."

Cyrus waved the hostess over and gave her a credit card to pay for their meal. Olivia didn't object. She knew from experience that with him, chivalry was far from dead. He was a gentleman in almost every aspect of the word. Plus he made more money than she did so it worked out for both of them. Cyrus finished his glass of water and rose from the table. She knit her brow as her gaze went up to his face. "Here's the thing, Liv. I don't know much about being creative in the dating world. I figured out the clue; the rest is up to you. I'm going home. Come over one night next week for dinner so we can discuss the adoption some more and so I can hear all about your master plan and the date that's sure to follow." He leaned down, kissed her cheek, and walked away.

Olivia asked for another glass of water as she continued to sit there and think about how to best respond to Mr. Grant. She picked up her phone from inside her purse and noticed she had been at the restaurant for almost two hours. She scrolled through her contacts and called Abby.

"Yea, whaddya want?" Abby said in a bored tone.

"Abby, where are you right now? And what are you doing?"

"I'm at home, and I am about to pour myself a glass of wine. Why?" She waited a beat and said, "Do you want to come over and have some with me?"

"Thanks for the offer, but I've had enough wine for tonight. I need your help though." Olivia knew Abby was the devious one of the two of them. She would come up with a plan.

"Sure, Liv. What's up?" Abby was walking around her apartment looking for the corkscrew and getting agitated that it wasn't where she left it. She blamed Stephen.

"I found Mr. Tie Me Up's clue, Abby. Well, technically Cyrus did at dinner." Olivia had to hold the phone at arms length away from her ear because Abby was joyfully screaming into it. A few of the patrons sitting at neighboring tables glanced in Olivia's direction at the noise. "Be quiet! You're not even here and you are causing a scene!"

Across town, Abby was freaking out. She was excited Olivia had found the missing piece from the mystery man as she found the cork screw. She didn't know which made her happier at the moment. "What was it?" She asked half heartedly as she poured a generous amount of wine into her tall glass.

"I've got to show it to you at the office tomorrow. It's a business card. He owns a bakery of some kind." She was grinning from ear to ear.

"A business card? Really, Liv? You don't know what a business card looks like? Come over and have some wine. You need a break." Abby said as she happily took a gulp.

Olivia rolled her eyes and prayed for patience. "His business card is in the shape of a cupcake. If it had been a regular rectangular business card I would have picked up on it. From the back, this looks like a weirdly shaped piece of paper. Drink some more wine. You're bitchy." She chuckled.

"Whatever. What do you want me to help you with? Sounds to me like you have everything you need except maybe some rope for him to actually tie you up with. What are you waiting for?" Abby laughed at her own joke as silence was heard on the other end of the line.

"I need to get in touch with him. But I don't know how to go about it. What should I do? I don't want to just call the number on his card. I want to do something creative. Cyrus was of no help to me there, so I called you. Give me an idea here, Abby."

"Cyrus is like a hundred years old. He probably doesn't have a creative bone in his body. Did you honestly think he would be the best one to ask?" It was a rhetorical question and they both knew it. Abby drank her wine while walking barefoot in her apartment. A few minutes later she exclaimed, "I got it! Go to his bakery. Yea. Walk in and surprise him face to face. His mouth will drag to the floor because he won't be expecting that. He probably thinks you are going to call him. Screw that! Go big or go home. And you are going home with him!" Abby could hear Olivia laughing through the line. But she continued. "But you need to wait and do it tomorrow. Or Friday. Make him sweat a little bit thinking you haven't found it yet."

"Why the hell would I want to wait? That makes no sense, Abby." The truth was Olivia didn't think she could wait. She wanted to talk with him. To thank him for the roses. And his creativity. And she wanted to thank him in person. She really liked the idea of going to the bakery in person instead of calling him or emailing him. When she got home she was going to Google him and find out as much about him as she could. That's what Google was made for, right? "Ok, I will wait until tomorrow. I don't think I can hold out until Friday. That would be pushing it and if he's bought tickets to an expensive Broadway play, the longer I wait to contact him, the more nervous he is going to get. He might reach out to me again just to confirm the plans. I want to be the one confirming things."

"Well, just remember whose idea it was, ok? You're welcome for that by the way. I'm going to finish this glass of wine and go to bed. I hate Wednesdays. See you in the morning."

"Thank you for your help, Abby. See you tomorrow." She ended the call, picked up her purse, and walked through the restaurant to wait for the valet to bring her car around. She didn't notice when the young man smiled at her as he held open the car door for her to get in. She was preoccupied with tomorrows plans. She needed to go home and figure out what she was going to wear and what she was going to say to him. She was getting excited as thoughts flew through her head in rapid fire bursts.

She drove home anxious to get into her pajamas and onto her laptop.

Thirty minutes later Olivia unlocked the door of her apartment and walked in. Even though today had been a relatively easy day, it was good to be home. She locked the door back and set her keys in the bowl on the small table near her door. She set her purse on a dining room chair in her tiny kitchen and continued walking into her bedroom. After getting changed into her pjs, she padded back into the kitchen for a glass of water. A half empty bottle of wine was sitting on her kitchen counter and she decided to ditch the water, pouring a half glass of the maroon liquid into a glass. As soon as her glass was full, she turned on her laptop. The search browser had just opened as she sat onto her sofa. Once she was settled she did searches on both the bakery and Fitz.

She learned that he owned The Sweet Spot for about seven years. It's a good business that is in a good location of town with lots of street traffic. On the same street as the dry cleaners, in fact, and yet Olivia had never noticed it before. He was known for his charitable work in the community the bakery was located. He donated beautifully decorated cakes and cupcakes for family days in the park, as well as open house at the beginning of the year at a local elementary school. He also had students at his bakery for school field trips. Olivia found pictures of him handing out cupcakes to young and old, always with a huge smile on his face. The photos of him with the students at his bakery showed a slightly more intense Fitz. She found a video one of the parents had uploaded and she watched as he told students how the baking was done each day and named the pieces of equipment and what they each did. He explained everything on their level of understanding and then together they made a batch of cupcakes for a snack at the end of the day. It was obvious that the kids loved being around him just as much as he loved having them there.

Olivia took a sip of her wine as she did a search on the man, Fitzgerald Grant III. She already knew the physical things about him but she wanted to know more. He had never been married and had no children of his own. He had been photographed with various women at the aforementioned events, but none of them seemed to have stuck. She wondered why. All kinds of guesses came to her mind, but they were just that. So she figured they would have something to talk about over dinner. Discovering that he was single came as a surprise to her. This man, who loved kids, was ridiculously handsome and very flirtatious, was financially stable by all appearances, was in fact unattached.

She set her laptop on the couch cushion beside her and took a deep drink of her wine as she looked at his handsome face. She had some questions about this man who seemed to have a big heart. Maybe nothing would come of their date? Maybe they would realize they were both just really good at flirting with each other and nothing more? But then again, maybe the same sparks that were between them in the dry cleaners would intensify? Maybe their conversation would flow freely and they would find that they have the same likes and dislikes? Who the hell knew what would happen? Whatever happened between them, it would beat sitting home alone on a Saturday night.


	3. Just Breathe

Just Breathe

The next morning Olivia woke up earlier than usual to give herself more time to get ready. Today was the day she was going to see Fitz again. As she showered, she realized she was more nervous than expected. Wrapping a towel around her tiny frame, she stepped into her bedroom to find something to wear.

After passing up several dresses in her closet, she finally chose one. It was a Victoria Beckham V neck fitted dress with a red ribbon check panel. It was the most expensive dress she owned and also her favorite. She had bought it on a shopping spree with Abby earlier that spring after they had won a big case together. She felt confident in the dress and it was perfect for the summer heatwave that was apparently here to stay. Olivia chose her shoes and finished getting ready with her jewelry and make up.

At six a.m. she was walking out of the door of her building with a cup of coffee in her hand. She walked toward her car to make her way to the office, appreciating the warmth the day was already providing. Olivia was thankful for the early start, not only for the lighter traffic but also for the caseload she had waiting for her at work. She had several upcoming cases that she needed to prep and do research for, as well as research about closed adoption for Cyrus. Arriving at the office early would offer more peace in which to get started.

Olivia swung into the parking lot at the office at 6:30, grabbed her purse and almost empty coffee cup. She walked the distance to the front door, entered the building and hopped on the elevator. She stepped out once she reached her floor and walked into her office. She was immediately welcomed by the smell of the beautiful roses she had forgotten to take home the day before. She smiled at them as they sat on the round glass table top. She went to her desk and turned on her computer to read through her emails. There was nothing of dire importance, so she picked up one of the case files she needed to work on and got started.

She had papers spread across her desk haphazardly studying a case and making notes, when Yvonne poked her head into Olivia's office a short while later and chirped, "Good morning!"

Olivia finished writing and gave Yvonne a smile. "Good morning." She looked up at the clock and groaned inwardly. She had only been at the office a little over an hour. This day was going to drag so slowly! "Yvonne, would you mind getting me some more coffee, please?"

"That's what I get paid the big bucks for," she muttered with a smile.

Olivia gave her a bland stare and said, "I'm sorry. What did you say?"

"I said 'Sure.' What are you working on and what can I do to help?" Yvonne said, her bright smile never faltering.

"Oh, I'm working on the Sallinger case. I'm just re-reading it and making notes as I go along. If you would do some research on closed adoption today, I would really appreciate it," she said.

"Mr. Sallinger's case is about money laundering. Is he planning on adopting a baby from prison?" Yvonne asked with heavy sarcasm and a snort.

Olivia chuckled at her assistant and put her pen down. "The adoption is for a different case altogether. I need as much information I can get on the topic so I am better prepared to help the couple looking to adopt. Where's my coffee?" Olivia held up her now empty cup.

"The coffeepot is a safe assumption," Yvonne replied with a smirk.

"Smart ass." Olivia stuck her tongue out at Yvonne. "I'll get the coffee. You're clearly busy." Olivia went to go fill her cup as Yvonne sat down at the round table and smelled her bosses flowers. When Olivia returned a few moments later Yvonne was still seated in the same place, drinking her own coffee.

"Please tell me you are taking these home today. It would be a shame for them to die of neglect. They are too beautiful to be kept here. Your place probably needs some brightening up anyways."

"What does that mean?" Olivia demanded. "My place is cute."

Yvonne picked an imaginary piece of lint from her dress pants and said, "It is cute. For someone who lives all alone. But at the end of a long day, wouldn't it be nice to walk into your apartment and instantly smell these beauties greeting you for the next couple of days? Don't make them die in the dark here. That's a depressing death." The two women drank their coffee in silence for the next few moments. Yvonne rose from her seat and went about finding specific information on adoption, as requested. Olivia returned to her paper covered desk to fine tune the Sallinger case and move on to the next one.

Sometime after lunch, Abby walked into Olivia's office to say hello. She had been in court that morning and was already looking forward to the end of the day. She took one of the chairs across from Olivia's desk and started eating a cupcake. Olivia asked the obvious question. "Whose birthday is it?" She started pulling out drawers of her desk in search of the box of birthday cards she kept there for office birthdays.

Abby watched her search for a few moments and said, "I dunno. Is it someone's birthday? In that case, grab an extra card for me." She continued slowly eating the cupcake as Olivia watched her impatiently. "This is really good!"

"I need you to figure out whose birthday it is, Abby. I always at least give a card. I need to know who we are celebrating so I can fill it out." She was getting impatient.

"How should I know whose birthday it is? Do you know how many people work around here?" Abby continued peeling the pretty paper away from the dark brown cake surrounding it. She peered through Olivia's window in search of the birthday person.

"Did you get that from the conference room? There had better be one left for me, dammit! The paralegals always get to them first and by the time I get in there, it's crumbs." Olivia got up and headed for her door. "Why didn't anyone come and get me so I could at least sing Happy Birthday too?"

"I don't think it's anyone's birthday, Liv." Abby took another little bite, savoring the taste, and threw the pretty paper wrapping in Olivia's trashcan. She started licking her fingers as Olivia shot her an annoyed look.

"Where the hell did you get the cupcake from if it's no one's birthday? The cupcake fairy?" Olivia rolled her eyes at her friend's smile.

"Kinda," she said with a huge grin. "I went to The Sweet Spot after court and got a couple of cupcakes. One chocolate, because you can never go wrong with chocolate. And one snickerdoodle. Snickerdoodle cupcakes, Liv! You haven't lived until you try one of those bad boys."

Olivia's mouth was gaping wide open as she listened to her friend tell of her cupcake lunch. She shut her office door and stuck a hand on her hip. "You went to his bakery?"

"Yea, I thought I just explained that pretty well." Abby continued eating her cupcake and making happy noises with each nibble. "Why did I only get two cupcakes? I should have gotten at least half a dozen."

"Did you see Fitz while you were there?" Olivia asked none too casually.

"Did I ever. And let me say, for the record, as fantastic as his cupcakes are, they are nothing compared to him! You weren't kidding when you described him. Seriously, I bet I could bounce a quarter off his ass. Those buns are definitely fresh from the bakery." Abby was deep in thought about Fitz's ass.

Olivia snapped her fingers in front of Abby's face, just as Fitz had done with her the day before. "Please tell me..."

Just then Olivia's door opened and in walked Yvonne. "What are you two talking about? It looks interesting." At the sound of silence, she looked between Olivia and Abby, and kept talking. "This is a good time for a break for me too. Let's start at the top. Hey Abby, whatcha eating?" Yvonne took a seat in the chair beside Abby and waited for an answer.

That was all it took for Abby to rejoin the here and now. "Hey Yvonne. We are just talking about Fitz. And cupcakes. And his glorious ass." Abby's grin was also back in full force. Olivia pinched the bridge of her nose as she listened to Abby tell Yvonne about her lunchtime stop at the bakery. "He had on a tight pair of blue jeans and a blue and white button up shirt. I can't even tell you how many pervy thoughts I had while watching that man walk around his bakery. His ass is fantastic! And I'm pretty sure he's hiding a large snake in the front of his jeans."

"I knew you two weren't working." Yvonne said raising her eyebrows repeatedly and with a smile showing her teeth. "Did you talk to him? I need to know what his voice sounds like."

"We'll get to the voice in a minute. It's really nice too." Abby took another nibble from her chocolate cupcake, trying to make it last as long as possible, and none too casually asked, "Which one is the big snake?"

Olivia rolled her eyes and prayed for strength as Yvonne blurted out, "A python?"

"That one is impressive, but it's not the one I was thinking of." Abby looked up at Olivia with a smile. "Help us out Liv."

"Absolutely not." This is a place of business and we should all be..."

Just then Abby snapped her fingers and happily exclaimed, "A cobra! That's the one!" Turning back to Yvonne she joyously continued her unexaggerated description of Fitz. "Fitz definitely has a cobra. I mean, jeans don't lie. And that really impressive bulge just about needs it's own zip code."

"Abby!" Olivia began, but was cut off from chiding her friend any further.

"What?! All I'm saying is the man is packing. A blind person could see it." Abby finished off her cupcake and continued in a business like tone. "I looked around for a while and watched him in action. He has a killer smile. He has perfectly straight super white teeth. I almost threw my panties at him just for the smile he gave me." Abby turned to Olivia who looked like she was going to jump out the window any minute. "I wanted to scope it out before Liv went down there this afternoon. I was trying to help her; as a friend."

"What did you say to him? Please tell me you didn't tell him you know me..."

"Yvonne, his voice is everything! It's a nice rich baritone, and it slides into your ears like the most beautiful symphony, and the next thing you know, you have turned into a puddle of goo. He could literally read the phone book to me and I would be putty in his hands..." Yvonne sighed loudly.

"...Or work with me..."

"And he seems like a really nice guy too." Abby was giving Yvonne all of her attention in an effort to drown out Olivia's whining.

"...or anything about me at all." Oliva begged.

"A mom came in with her daughter while I was there. Kid might have been four or five. Something like that. Anyways, Fitz came around the counter, called the little girl by name, and hugged her. He asked her about her day at school and everything. It was really sweet. Maybe I should have a kid?" She seemed to be deep in thought over that one for about ten seconds and then made a face. She shuddered and then shot her friend a look. "You are killing our sexy Fitz vibe, Liv!" Abby retorted. "Besides, do I look stupid?"

"This from the woman who was helping me look for someone celebrating a birthday a few minutes ago." The three of them laughed at that. Olivia sat down in her desk chair across from them. "Tell me about the place. I mean, I Googled it, but what is it like actually being inside?"

"It's a really cute place and it smells heavenly. There were a lot of people there. Some were getting desserts and some were sitting down with coffee. It was really busy. And that man doesn't stop moving, which is a really good thing to watch. He's very personable. He spoke with just about everyone in the place." Abby's smile never left her face as she recalled her visit to the bakery. "He asked me what I wanted to order. And I told him I had never been there before. He smiled at me and asked what flavors I liked. I told him chocolate was my weakness. He bagged a chocolate cupcake and then asked if I was feeling a little daring. Let me tell you, I would have cut off my right arm if he'd asked me to. I told him to surprise me. That's when he picked out the snickerdoodle cupcake. And both of them were delicious. I'm definitely going back for another visit. All kidding aside, he seems like a one in a million kind of guy. Smart, successful, handsome, personable, and he loves kids. You might be done looking for a while, Liv."

"Wait a minute!" Yvonne exclaimed with wide eyes. "A Snickerdoodle cupcake? That's a real thing?" She whispered it almost reverently, causing the other two women in the room to look at her like she had lost her mind. "I kinda want a cupcake right now," Yvonne sulked. "Maybe I'll go there after lunch tomorrow."

"No you don't!" Olivia pointed her finger at both of her friends in stern warning. "The next one of us to go there is going to be me. I just have to get through this day and then I am going to surprise him with a visit of my own. We all need to get back to work. Now!"

Abby got out of her seat, rolled her eyes, looked at Yvonne and muttered, "Someone needs to get their cupcake iced really soon." They laughed conspiratorially as they walked out of Olivia's office.

As the afternoon slowly droned on, Olivia kept herself busy. She had eaten her lunch at her desk and then got right back to her case files. She had gotten a lot done today and was pretty proud of herself for it. Work kept her mind occupied so that thoughts of Fitz wouldn't sneak in to distract her. But at random moments, they came anyway.

Thoughts of tight blue jeans, his beautiful smile, those piercing blue eyes, and his amazing voice started taking up space in her head. And Olivia gladly let those thoughts run rampant in her mind. A few minutes wouldn't hurt anything, she reasoned. Yesterday her thoughts about him were mostly sexual. He was a very attractive man and she felt a burning lust for him the first time she saw him. But after the playful detective game the two of them shared trying to find each other, along with his incredible thoughtfulness at planning out their first date in great detail, Olivia was beginning to think there could be more to this. True, they had just met yesterday, but this seemed different. She had never dated men who went to such great lengths to get her attention. And made it as fun at it had been at the same time.

Calm down, she chided herself.

She was going to see him in his element a few hours. She wondered if she would get the satisfaction of seeing a shocked expression on his face when he saw her walk into his bakery? She wondered if he was as anxious to see her again as she was to see him? She wondered what he would look like covered in  
flour? Shaking her head on a wicked sigh, she wondered where that thought came from. If this ended up being nothing serious, she was at least going to put the man through his physical paces. His body looked too good to not take advantage of it.

Once again, she tried for decent thoughts.

Fitz seemed to be an interesting person. Meeting and flirting with a man was one thing. Meeting a man who didn't appear to be looking for anyone, and seemed to be fulfilled in life was another thing altogether. What if he was busy when she got there and didn't have time to talk? She had no idea what she was going to say when she saw him. Olivia figured she's just go with her gut in the moment. Olivia shut those thoughts down. She wasn't going to over think things or make them seem impossible before she even got there. She wasn't in court, this was her life. She'd kick his ass and make him notice her if she had to. But she really didn't think it would come to that.

And then there was the comment Abby had made. 'You might be done looking for a while.' If she was honest, that worried her a little bit. But Olivia didn't know which thought about it scared her most. Being done looking for her match or being settled with a man who loved her. Being an independent takingcare-of-business woman is a great thing and definitely has it's advantages, in Olivia's mind. She could do as she wanted without having to check with anyone or answer to them. She held the power over her own life and the choices that she made. She took the credit for what she accomplished because she did it by herself. The world was her oyster.

It also had it's disadvantages too. There was no one to share her life with. Hell, share her day with. It was lonely at times, she could admit. Sometimes she would hear Abby on the phone with Stephen and want the simplicity of knowing someone cared about her enough to give her a call at some point in their day. Knowing that someone put her first as she put him first was something she craved in a relationship. Some days the oyster was over rated.

All of these thoughts were getting to be too much to process at the moment. This could become something meaningful or it could just be a little fun. She decided not to worry about it right now. She was enjoying the playfulness they brought out in each other. And there was nothing wrong with a little fun. Even if this was just another random encounter, at the very least, she would have a great story to share with anyone willing to listen to it.

She had to get back to work.

Yvonne came into her office around four o'clock so they could discuss her findings on closed adoption. She had come across some helpful things for Olivia's friends. And she had even discovered a few more topics that needed to be addressed between Cyrus and James. Things Olivia never would have thought about, since she didn't have any children of her own. She wrote them down as a reminder to bring them up when she went to have dinner with them. "You've found some great ideas. I really appreciate your hard work on this, Yvonne."

"You're welcome. I never knew there was so much to think about when it came to adoption. I learned a lot while doing this research. I'm glad I could help and I appreciate you letting me." Yvonne said with a smile. "What time are you leaving for the day?"

Olivia looked at her watch and realized the time. She looked at her assistant and sighed. "As soon as I put away these files on my desk." Olivia stood up and started putting the loose papers back inside their olive colored folding homes to be stacked and filed. "I got a lot done today in spite of everything. It always feels good to take care of loose ends."

"Spoken like a true Mafia boss." Yvonne watched Olivia chuckle at her comment and said, "Why don't you let me put these files away so you can scoot out of here now? You've got places to go and a man to see."

Touched, Olivia smiled at her assistant. "I appreciate the offer, Yvonne, I really do. But doing this will help settle my nerves a little bit before I head over to see Fitz. Besides, you've gotten a lot done today too. Why don't you scoot out of here and enjoy the rest of your day?"

"Okay. As long as you promise to fill me in on all the details tomorrow? You have nothing to be nervous about. You look beautiful. He is really going to be surprised . And I have a feeling this trip to the bakery is going to be magical. Just breathe and enjoy it." Yvonne smiled at her boss one last time before walking out of Olivia's office door.

After checking her appearance one last time, Olivia and her butterflies got in her car and drove across town toward The Sweet Spot. Traffic wasn't terrible so she made the drive in twenty minutes. The  
butterflies had turned into crows. She watched a man pull out of a parking space across the street from the bakery as she got closer. She maneuvered her car into the little space and sat there for a minute pulling herself together. To say she was nervous was an understatement. She just didn't know why.

He was just a man like the millions of them she saw, spoke to, or flirted with on a daily basis. She had no reason to be nervous. And yet she was. Olivia closed her eyes and concentrated on evening out her breathing to get her heart rate in a normal range. She got out of her car and dropped a few coins into the meter. She had no idea how long she would be here. Better safe than sorry. She dropped a few more for good measure.

She walked across the busy New York street and stood in front of the bakery. Looking inside she saw that there were several people inside. Mostly business looking types, probably stopping by for a treat to take home after a long day at work. She took a deep breath, pulled the door open, and stepped inside. She was immediately hit with the delicious smells of baked sweets. Her stomach growled in protest of the salad she ate at her desk hours ago.

Olivia glanced around curiously looking for Fitz, but he was nowhere to be seen. She walked around the space, smiling at the customers whose eyes she met. The bakery was cheerfully decorated and very inviting. She walked up to the display counter, bent down, and peered into the glass at the confections sitting inside. She saw beautifully decorated cakes of all sizes and colors. In another display case, she saw donuts, cinnamon rolls, scones, cupcakes, and cookies. Her stomach growled again.

She noticed movement from behind the counter and stood up immediately. From far behind the counter, what she assumed was the back room, she saw another movement of blue and knew it was Fitz. He was walking towards the display case where Olivia stood, but couldn't see her because he was carrying a couple of boxes that were blocking his view.

He set the boxes on top of the display case and stepped to the side of them. His beautiful blue eyes immediately met Olivia's in complete surprise. He uttered the only word that came to his jumbled mind. "Hi."

Olivia stared into his eyes for a moment and felt a surprising calmness settle over her. She responded shyly. "Hi."


	4. Mesmerizing

Mesmerizing

They stood there for a long time, just staring at one another with matching grins, each at a loss for words. Fitz finally walked around to Olivia's side of the display case, stood in front of her, and still smiling happily said, "You found my card."

Once her brain kicked into gear, Olivia decided to tease him a little bit. "Actually, I didn't." She watched as his face scrunched up in confusion. "I'm a lawyer and have several private detectives at my disposal." She was going to continue with the façade, but when she watched his eyebrows go skyward, she started giggling. "I'm kidding."

Fitz wiped his forehead in mock relief and gave her another smile as he stepped even closer to her. "However it happened, I'm just really glad you discovered it."

"Actually, one of my oldest friends found it. It's a long story that I'll tell you another time." Olivia was still looking into his eyes, but she felt his big hand gently grasp hers. It felt natural, like he should have been holding her hand her whole life. She looked down at their joined hands and then back up into his blue eyed gaze. He pulled her closer to him.

They were pelvis to pelvis, still looking into each other's eyes. Fitz's voice dropped an octave when he said, "It's been really difficult to not pick up the phone and call you." He put his hands on her cheeks and said in his low voice, "I've been really anxious to see you again, and dying to finally kiss you."

He paused long enough to make sure she wasn't going to protest. When she didn't, he lowered his head to hers, closed his eyes, and captured her lips in a sultry kiss. Before his tongue could try to gain access to hers, Olivia opened her mouth willingly. Fitz felt her arms wrap around his neck as she sighed contently and he deepened the kiss. Olivia wound her fingers into the hair on the back of his neck as she eagerly continued the kiss.

A few moments later, Fitz pulled back for much needed air as he rested his forehead against hers. He opened his eyes to see her brilliant brown ones looking back at him. Her lips were swollen and she was trying to get her breathing under control. Fitz felt something shift into place. Somehow it felt like this was the something he'd been missing in his life. It was an absolute crazy thing to think about someone he had just met that week, but the thought traveled to his heart and he reveled in it before speaking to her. "Wow. That was even better than I imagined."

Something about this man brought out her playful side and Olivia was enjoying it. "Oh, so you've been imagining kissing me? Do I want to know what else have you been imagining?" She was thoroughly enjoying watching his face get red from embarrassment.

He grinned at her and replied, "That's a long story I'll tell you another time."

"You are the master of throwing people's words back at them, Mr. Grant." She teased.

"Why thank you Miss. Pope. You call it throwing words, I call it sharing wisdom." Her smile was making this great day so much brighter. He reached up with his left hand and ran his thumb across her lips. He once again leaned down to give her another kiss. He planned on a quick peck, but neither one of them was having that. It turned into another scorching kiss but he didn't mind because felt her hands in his hair. He was the one who broke away once again, trying not to go overboard. He pulled her to him for a warm hug as he whispered in her ear, "I knew you'd put the pieces together sooner or later. The waiting was well worth it. I'm so glad you're here."

When they pulled away from the hug they heard clapping. Bewildered, they both looked around and remembered they were in the bakery, and not alone. There were a few customers watching the interaction between Olivia and Fitz and they were showing their appreciation for it. Olivia was mortified. She hid her face into Fitz's chest as he put his arm around her and held her close to him. Fitz gave a deep belly laughed at the whole thing, but discovered he really liked the feel of Olivia against him. "You're welcome for the free show guys, but I'm afraid I'm closing a little early today."

At the sound of their displeasure, he decided to placate them a little. "I'm feeling generous tonight, so be here tomorrow morning before eight and I'll give each of you a free cinnamon roll for the trouble. It's the best offer you're going to get from me. Go home. Now." He left Olivia at the display case and headed for the door to lock it after the last customer was outside.

One of the men, an elderly kind faced white haired man, walked over to where Olivia was standing. He smiled at her and said in a quiet voice, "Fitz is a good man, Miss. I don't mean good as in he holds the door open for you. I mean good as in he really cares about people. He has a good heart. He is the kindest person I've ever met. I just wanted you to know that. Have a good evening." And with that he walked over to the door, shook hands with Fitz, and walked out into the New York evening.

Fitz locked the door and flipped the sign over so the word CLOSED was read by anyone outside. He looked over at Olivia who was still standing in the same spot. When he shot her a smile from across the room, she immediately started walking towards him. Fitz opened his arms at the last moment, as if she went into his arms all the time. She wrapped her own arms around him and the two of them just stood there holding each other.

A few moments later, they pulled out of the embrace and Fitz once again held her hand. "Are you hungry?" he asked her. Olivia remembered the noises her stomach had made earlier and told him she was.  
"I would offer to take you out to dinner but if I'm being honest, I would rather have you all to myself for the rest of this evening. I could whip us up something to eat here. If that's ok with you?" He asked hopefully.

"Wow. I mean, obviously I knew you could make sweets. But actual food too?" Olivia held him out at arms length and gave him her serious look. "How are you still single?"

Fitz pulled her close to him again. He already didn't like a lot of space between them. "I am very picky when it comes to women. Very few have made it through my self set high standards." He hugged her to his chest to savor the feeling. He kissed her forehead. "Would you like to have dinner with me here?"

"You're not the only one with high standards, Mister. I may come off as huggy, kissy, mesmerized by your..." She began.

"Waaaait a minute. Did you just say you're mesmerized by me?" His face revealed nothing and his eyebrows were high on his forehead as he waited for an answer.

"What? No. What I meant to say was. I...You..." she stuttered.

"It's ok. I AM pretty mesmerizing. I have that effect on women all the time." Olivia laughed and playfully hit him on the arm. "Just today a woman came into the bakery and watched me like a hawk. She was staring at my crotch for a really long time. I was beginning to feel victimized. She kept her distance, but followed me around for almost an hour like a lost puppy. Then she played dumb when she finally ordered cupcakes. I mean, I don't blame her. Have you seen me? I'm a damn catch."

Olivia burst into laughter. She was laughing so hard tears were forming in her eyes. Fitz was giving her a questioning look. When she got herself under control, she looked at Fitz and said, "Redheads! They are a special kind of people."

Fitz's mouth dropped to the floor in complete surprise. "How did you know she was a redhead? I never said what she looked like! You are freaking me out right now, woman."

"Some things are better left unsaid." Olivia recalled Abby's story and made a mental note to ask her why she failed to mention the fact that she was at the bakery for over an hour. Her friend was a pervert. Thorough, but a pervert. Changing the subject she asked, "Are you going to cook me something to eat any time soon? I'm starving."

Olivia put her arms around his neck and gave him a smacking kiss. "Please feed me." At the smirk on his face she felt the need to add, "Get your mind out of the gutter. You cook and I will set the table. Deal?" She waited a beat. "Great. Now GO!" She swatted his ass and then watched him walk towards the back room he originally came in from.

Twenty minutes later, she had set one of the tables with a white tablecloth she found behind the counter. She had also set out some pretty plates and wine glasses she had found while pillaging through the bakery. The table was set, but Olivia wanted to set out some candles, so she went into the back room to ask Fitz if he had any. She found him cooking something that smelled heavenly at the stove with his back to her. She was about to ask about the candles but took a moment to appreciate the view. Abby wasn't lying. His ass was glorious. It was currently shaking to the music he had playing on the radio. This handsome, successful, caring man, could in fact dance. Olivia silently logged that away as well. She cleared her throat loud enough to be heard over the music and watched as Fitz turned around.

He reached over to the radio and turned it down some. "I take it you've done your part and are waiting for me to finish this up?"

"The table is set but I was wondering if you had any candles I could set out? It would be nice. Also, what do you have to drink around here?" She started walking towards him as she continued, "I can pour us something while you finish up. Unless you're too busy dancing?" She couldn't help it.

Fitz reached over to the radio and turned it back up, letting the beat flow through the kitchen. He turned the stove off and looked at Olivia with a wicked grin. He held out his arm, still dancing and waited for her to join him. He could sense that she was slowly getting addicted to his charms. He gave her his best smile and beckoned her with his index finger.

Olivia, however, was going to make him come to her. She wasn't going to make it that easy for him. Besides, she had a plan. She held her ground right where she was, and while keeping eye contact with  
him, started to swivel her hips to the beat. She raised her arms over her head as her whole body started making circles while her hips kept the beat.

The beckoning finger ceased movement. In fact, Fitz stopped moving altogether. He was pretty sure he had forgotten how to breathe. He stood watching her dance in his kitchen. She was sexy as hell. This woman could dance. He was trying to be decent and not stare at her ass, but he lost the battle with decency and watched with fascination as her hips kept the rhythm of the music. He wanted to touch her.

Olivia knew he was watching her and thinking the same type of things about her that she had been thinking about him earlier that day. She could see it on his face. She decided it was time to shake him out of his trance. She gave him the 'come here' motion with her finger and said, "Come dance with me."

She didn't have to ask him twice. He gave her a smoldering look and made his way over to her. With one hand on her hip and the other one on her ass, the two of them moved to the music together. Their bodies were flush against each other, and their breathing was getting heavy. Lust was like an electric current between them. Still moving, Fitz grasped her chin in the space between his thumb and index finger and kissed her possessively with everything he was feeling.

Olivia wasn't surprised by his reaction; she was enjoying it. A man could be handsome, or well off, comfortable in his own skin, an all around nice guy, a gentleman, or thoughtful to a fault. But a man had to have a fire somewhere deep inside him. Fitz seemed to have all of those attributes in spades. She pulled her face back even though she really didn't want to. They stopped dancing but could still feel the heat coming off of each other. Olivia stated matter-of-factly but in between breaths, "You are taking me dancing sometime."

"Yes, ma'am," he grinned at her. "I hate to put an end to this interesting and very sexy aspect of tonight, but the food is going to get cold if we don't eat soon." Without taking his eyes off of Olivia, Fitz gestured to a cabinet on the other side of the room. "The candles are in there. And I'm pretty sure there's some wine in the fridge over there." If you will deal with that, I will bring out the food. Deal?" He kissed her before she could respond, smacked her ass, and said "Go!" Olivia gave a short laugh and went in search of the items she asked for.

They ate their dinner and talked for hours afterwards. They talked about their families and growing up and how they each had gotten into their line of work. Fitz held her hand across the table through the entire meal. He loved holding her hand and knew he would miss it when she went home.

They also discussed the details of their actual first date in two days time. Fitz reminded her of what time he would pick her up. She told him she had a day filled with a mani/pedi, getting her hair done, and finding something to wear so last minute. They were both very excited. For their first official date and to be going to see Hamilton.

They had washed the dishes, put everything back in it's place, and were walking to the front door hand in hand to lock up and go to their own homes. As they reached it, Olivia wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tight. It was completely ridiculous, but she already missed him. "I'm really glad I found your card."

Fitz had both of his strong arms wrapped around her little body. He whispered in her ear, "I planned on coming to your office tomorrow if I hadn't heard from you by then. I was hoping we would click as well as we do."

Olivia pulled back to look up into his blue eyes with humor in her own. "You were going to come harass me on my job and what? Beg me to go out with you? You know that's crazy, right?"

Fitz pulled her close to him again and said, "I told you, I'm a damn catch. You would have missed out on all this fabulousness!"Olivia laughed at that, but Fitz was silent. He put his finger under her chin and tipped it up towards his face right before he gave her the most tender kiss she had ever felt. He heard her sigh in contentment, and it was a sound he would be thinking about for the rest of the night.

"I think it's time for us to go home, Fitz. I've got an early morning again tomorrow and I'm going to have a hard time going to sleep tonight with visions of you dancing on my brain." She admitted.

"That doesn't surprise me. My dancing skills are pretty mesmerizing." Olivia rolled her eyes at him. And then Fitz had an idea. "Can I see your phone please?"

"Are you going to take a selfie with it and make it my wallpaper?" She laughed at him and handed him her cell phone.

"Smart ass. I'm going to put my number in it, so you can call or text me later if you are still awake. I'm a night owl, so I'll be up for a while longer." He added his name and contact info into her phone and pulled her close for one last hug before they parted ways. While Olivia contentedly had her eyes closed, he took a picture of them and stuck the phone into her hand.

Fitz walked her to her car, and after several kisses later, he watched her drive away. Olivia Pope was an amazing woman and he wanted more. More of her time, to get to know her better. More of her organizational side, to see what she could do in action. More of her playful side, so he could play along too. More of her body, whether it be dancing or kissing. He just wanted more. He got into his own car and headed home feeling the most content he'd been in a long time.

Olivia drove the short distance home with a huge smile on her face. That went so much better than she had dared to imagine. He was funny, and a good cook, he could dance, and he held her hand almost all evening. The pros were really stacking up for Fitz. She hadn't found a con yet. She knew they were there, but for tonight, she was only going to think about the positives.

She changed into her pajamas, washed her face, crawled under the blankets, and yawned loudly. She opened her phone and sent Fitz a text.

 _Thank you for dinner, it was great._  
 _I'm no longer mesmerized, I'm exhausted._  
 _Talk to you soon_

Fitz smiled from inside his own house as he read her message. His reply was simple

 _So you're saying I wore you out?_  
 _Good to know. Sleep well_

When Olivia woke up the next morning she immediately reached for her phone. She had several missed calls from Abby & Yvonne, as well as texts from them asking how it went. She didn't reply to them, knowing the three of them would be spending lunch discussing it in great detail. She read the text Fitz had sent her the night before. Even though it made her laugh, she decided to not reply until she had given it some thought.

When she walked into her office the next morning, she was startled to see Abby & Yvonne, who were eating muffins and drinking coffee. "You two scared the life out of me! What the hell are you doing in my office at seven am anyway?"

Abby and Yvonne looked at each other and then back to Olivia. Yvonne was the first to speak. "Did you lose your phone, Olivia?"

Olivia knew what they were up to. She put her purse away and wearily sat down at her desk. "Not that I am aware of, Yvonne. Why do you ask?"

"Because Abby and I each sent you multiple texts and calls last night that all went unanswered. Which could only mean one of two things happened. Your phone was lost or you were avoiding us. Since the phone isn't lost, that could only mean the latter." Yvonne took a sip of her coffee and waited for an answer.

"That doesn't explain why the two of you are in my office at the crack of dawn," Olivia shot back.

"We wanna know what happened when you went to the bakery last night!" Abby demanded. "We want to hear all the details." When she saw that her friend was softening Abby added. "Please, Liv."

Yvonne handed her boss a tall cup of coffee and sat back down to listen in rapture. "What happened when you got there? Were you nervous at all?"

Olivia had to laugh. Crazy as they were, this was her support system. She knew they would be as excited to hear the story as she was to re-tell it. "I was very nervous." She took them through the entire night step by step, leaving nothing out.

"He sounds perfect. Does he have a brother by any chance?" Yvonne asked bravely.

Olivia chuckled at Yvonne. "He does, actually. But he lives in Colorado and is happily married."

"Tomorrow is the big date. You must have a million things to do to get ready. Do you even have a dress yet?"

"Not yet, but I've..."

"Not yet? You have to have a dress, Liv! Why are you even at work today?"

"...made some calls and plan to take an extended lunch..."

"You have personal days! You need to go. Go get your nails done. And find a damn dress that will make that sexy man want to rip it off of you." Abby was at her ropes end and was getting nowhere.

Yvonne stood up and walked over to Olivia, who was still sitting at her desk. She placed her palms on the edge of the desk and calmly said, "Here's what is going to happen. You are going to leave the office and act like you never came in this morning." Olivia was about to say something but Yvonne held up her index finger, silencing her boss. "You don't have a lot on your schedule today anyway. And the rest I will re-schedule for next week, blaming it on illness. You are going to go get your nails done and you are going to shop until you find THE dress for your date tomorrow night. You WILL send both Abby and I pictures of the dress when you find it today. That is the deal. There will not be any negotiating. Can you handle this?"

Olivia was shocked by Yvonne. This woman was either finding her back bone or was just bringing it out. Either way, she was a hell of an ally. Olivia walked over to the two determined women and gave them both a hug. "The two of you are pretty formidable when you put your heads together. As much as I think I should stay, if you think you can handle things without me, I am going to take the deal."

The three of them shrieked and then instantaneously quieted, looking around to make sure no one had heard them. "Don't forget to send us pictures when you find the dress, Liv. And just to be on the safe side, buy some condoms for your date while you're out. Magnums." Abby was grinning and openly unashamed for her suggestion. Yvonne snickered, while Olivia decided no comment was best.

Olivia told her friends she would be in touch soon with pictures of her findings. She gathered her purse and coffee cup and headed back down to her car, unseen by anyone from the office. She had a lot to do today and wasn't going to waste any time getting it done. She put on her sunglasses, plastered a smile on her face, and drove off. First things first, Olivia decided. She needed to find a dress to wear. And this early morning start was going to be a huge help.


	5. Let Your Hair Down

**I want to say thank you to everyone who is reading and reviewing this story. I look forward to reading what you have to say about it. Each and every review encourages me along in my writing. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I am enjoying writing it.**

Let Your Hair Down

By lunchtime the dress was picked out. As per their deal, Olivia had sent photos to Yvonne and Abby, which had turned into a three way phone call with lots of oooohs and aaaahs. And lots of questions about the shoes, hair and the clutch. The hair was a source of contention between them as Abby insisted she should wear her hair up while Yvonne firmly declared that she should leave it down. They were giving her a headache so she ended the call as politely as possible. But not before both women stated they would be at Olivia's house the next day at four o'clock to view the final outcome and see her off.

She debated going to the bakery to see Fitz, but knew he would be working, and probably very busy with a lunch crowd. She pulled out her cell phone instead and sent him a text:  
 _What kind of music do you have on the radio today?_

She got a fairly quick response:  
 _Why don't you come and see for yourself? The music is almost as mesmerizing as the baker._

That made her laugh. Before she could reply to it, he sent another text:  
 _Shouldn't you be working instead of texting?_

Olivia smiled at she typed out her reply:  
 _I took the day off to go dress shopping. A girl needs to look presentable for her first date._

Fitz replied immediately:  
 _Send me a picture of the dress?_

This man was dreaming if he thought that was gonna happen.  
 _Good things come to those who wait. Go make some sticky buns or torture a redhead!_

Across town, Fitz was staring at his phone reading her last text. She thinks she's so funny, he thought. Two can play this game:  
 _I know how to make buns sticky. I'll show you soon..._

Olivia was feeling some type of way after reading his message. She read it again just to make sure she had read what she thought she had. Damn him and his sexy wit. She took a moment to breathe deeply to contain the throbbing she was feeling in her southern region. It didn't help. This man had sent her libido into over drive with eleven words. Worst of all, she was picturing it. All sorts of delicious visions of naked Fitz doing delicious things to her body were now in her mind while taking complete control of her being. Her phone dinged with another text, snapping her out of the daydream:  
 _Are you still there? I do hope you're alright ;)_

Damn it! He knew exactly what he was doing to her. Sexual tension radiated off of Olivia's body like steam from a hot kettle. Visions of Fitz were one thing. She wanted the reality. And soon. She sent a hasty reply and threw her phone into her purse feeling unsatisfied:  
 _I've got to go. I need a pair of heels to match the dress._

Across town, Fitz was mentally high fiving himself through a chuckle. He was pretty sure she was all worked up and had similar thoughts running through her mind as he did. He hadn't stopped thinking about her since he watched her drive away the night before. She was intellectually fascinating. Watching her almost turn into a different person while discussing topics from baseball to her courtroom prowess was amazing. He looked forward to more conversations with her to really figure out what made her tick.

Olivia also had a great body too. He had noticed all of her curves as he watched her dance. She was tiny, but she knew how to work what she had and he appreciated that. He also looked forward to discovering her body and how it reacted to whatever he did to it. He knew she wanted that too, but he wasn't going to pressure her or force it. He had his ways of getting a woman to react to his touch. He flexed his fingers as he thought about touching her and setting little fires all over her skin with them. And his tongue. Fitz cursed under his breath as he felt a familiar tightening at the front of his jeans. He sat in his office, trying to get himself under control. A short while later, one of his counter staff called him up front for assistance. Thankfully, things were back to normal with his body, so he went to take care of the work issue and concentrate on getting through this day without any more distractions.

Sometime around five, Fitz was back in his office at the bakery going over invoices that needed to be paid. He was still open for another hour, but had a high school kid who came in most afternoons to run the front counter, freeing him up to do necessary paperwork. His phone was on vibrate, so he could get things done without interruptions. He faintly heard it vibrate once, letting him know he had a text message. He kept working, thinking he would check it out as soon as he got somewhere remotely near the end of the paper stacks. And then he forgot all about it.

Forty five minutes later, he decided he wanted a snack. He started up front to grab something out of the case to hold him over until he got dinner, when he remembered he had a text waiting for him. He picked up his phone and again began his way to the front of the bakery. He smiled at the few customers who were still sitting at tables inside eating a sweet snack.

He opened his phone and frowned when he realized it was a message from Olivia that he had missed. When he touched her name he saw that it wasn't a text, but a video. He turned the volume up a little bit and touched the arrow for it to play. The video started and soft sexy music could be heard in the background. It looked like Olivia was laying on her side on what must be her bed. She had started the recording showing her bare brown hip and the camera slowly started moving.

Fitz touched the home button on his phone and exclaimed, "Holy shit!" He looked around to make sure no one had heard him. Thankfully, there weren't any small kids in the bakery at that time. With the exception of one customer, who sat nearby and raised his head to see what the commotion was, no one paid him much attention. Fitz apologized to the man for his outburst and told him whatever he was eating was on the house. He quickly forgot about the much wanted snack and practically ran into his office slamming the door behind him. He sat at his desk and started the video from the beginning.

The music started playing again and there was that perfect hip; connected to a bent video moved slowly down her leg and, even though Fitz begged the camera to go back up, it continued traveling down to Olivia's foot, which was resting perfectly upon her ankle. The video then panned up to Olivia's face. She smiled at him and said, "Now you've seen the shoes I'm wearing tomorrow night. See you and your sticky buns then." She blew a kiss to him and the video ended.

What shoes was she talking about? He didn't see any shoes. Who cares about shoes right now anyway? He muttered to himself. She had been thinking about their earlier text messages all day. The sticky buns comment had gotten to her and that's why she brought it up. He had found a weakness in Olivia Pope. Dirty talk. He smirked at his own cleverness.

He watched the video again, and really paid attention this time. Her smooth chocolate skin was perfection. And begging for his fingers to touch it. This woman was going to be the death of...Oh look! There is a shoe on that foot at the end! A very silver, very high heeled shoe. He wondered why he hadn't noticed it before? He was conjuring up mental pictures of Olivia standing in front of him wearing nothing but those heels. Damn it he was getting hard again.

He fought his inner beast down and decided to send her a decent text:  
 _The shoes are great. Very pretty. Do they hurt though?_

Olivia was eating popcorn on her bed when she heard the ding from her phone alerting a text. She practically dove to the phone and saw it was from Fitz. What the hell took him so long? She, on the other hand, wasn't quite done tormenting him.  
 _I'm sure they will when I dig them into your chest_

Fitz dropped the phone to the floor. She did not just say that! He stood up and paced for a few minutes trying to calm himself down. He wanted to feel those heels digging into his back as her threw her legs over his shoulders ...No! Stop! You're just making things worse for yourself, he chided his own filthy mind. He didn't know how to respond to that message any other way than to play her flirty texting game. Let's see how she likes it, he thought.  
 _How exactly do your shoes get in my chest if I have you on your hands and knees?_

Olivia read the message and tried unsuccessfully to stifle an orgasmic moan. Her mental pictures of sex with Fitz were becoming extremely vivid. He had gotten the better last word again. She would have to remember that his mind was apparently as filthy as hers, and that he was just as willing to say what was on his. When they got home from the play tomorrow night, she was getting laid! She was so ready to end up a sweaty, exhausted, and content woman.  
She sent him a text in hopes of keeping the upper hand.  
 _If I get what I want you'll get what you want_

She's cute, Fitz thought. Crazy, but cute. It was time to set this woman straight.  
 _You aren't in control when you're in my bed_

Olivia arched one perfect eyebrow as she read his reply. She was open to just about anything sexually, but she wasn't going to be told what to do like some mindless subservient girl. The thought was kind of sexy when she factored Fitz into the equation, but he didn't need to know that.  
 _So we're coming to my place?_

Fitz chuckled at his phone. He was learning what buttons he could and could not push. He was going to push this one in the future, but not tonight. She was thinking about it, and that's all he intended. He was planning to spend Saturday night through Sunday afternoon in bed with her, pleasuring her any way she wanted him to. But she didn't need to know that. He would have plenty of time to think about that tomorrow. But now, unfortunately, he needed to finish up the invoices he was working on. He decided to end the fun for a while with one last text.  
 _Tomorrow is your night. Whatever you want._  
 _I've got to finish some work. I'll see you soon._  
 _Sleep well, Olivia. You're gonna need it..._

The grin she wore as she read his text almost split her face. She could not wait to see him tomorrow. She hoped she could sleep later.  
 _Right back atcha, Mister!_

Abby and Yvonne had showed up at Olivia's house a little after lunchtime on Saturday so the three of them could get a mani/pedi together. It had been a great way for them to do something fun away from the office. They had chatted about lots of things, but the conversation always came back to Fitz. Olivia had shared everything with them, including their sext messages the night before. They were her people and she valued their input, as well as their friendship.  
"What time did you say Fitz picking you up?" Abby asked while looking at her watch.

"She said five, Abby. Damn, you need to calm down." Yvonne chided. She had never had her nails done and was thoroughly enjoying it. "It's barely two o'clock. We have plenty of time to finish up here and go pour Olivia into that tight ass dress."

Olivia sat up in her chair with a panicked look on her face. She turned to her friends and asked, "Do you think it's too tight? I don't want to..."

"See what you did, Abby! You got her all worked up..."

Abby gave Yvonne a questioning look. "Me?" She interrupted. "You're the one who called it a 'tight ass dress'."

"...give him the wrong impression. I mean, I do..." She corrected with a glint in her eye.

"You are the one who can't stop asking what time it is! You are stressing her out." Yvonne pointed at Abby. "Just look at your watch and worry in silence."

"...but I don't want to come across as slutty." Olivia was re-thinking her dress choice.

Abby and Yvonne immediately stopped talking. Abby reached over to touch Olivia's arm. "Oh, Liv. You really should have thought about that before you started texting him all that sexy shit." The three of them dissolved into laughter.  
When the laughter died, Abby got serious. "You are a single woman who is interested in a single man. There is nothing wrong with the dress you picked out to wear tonight. You are both grown ass adults who are going out on a date tonight. Don't second guess anything. Have fun and enjoy it."

Olivia hugged Abby warmly. She needed to hear the pep talk her friend had just given her. She waited for Abby's predictable punchline.

"And if you end up doing the walk of shame to work on Monday, make sure both of us hear all about your weekend over lunch." Abby snickered.

There she was, Olivia thought with an eye roll.

Thirty minutes later, the three women were walking into Olivia's house laughing at something Yvonne had said on the way up the elevator. "Ok, it's almost three o'clock. Abby, pour us a glass of wine. Yvonne, put something fun on the radio. I'm going to go do my hair. You two can come back in my room when your jobs are done."

"Hair up!" Abby yelled.

"Hair down!" Yvonne exclaimed louder.

"Since I don't have a glass of wine in my hand or hear any music, I'm not listening to either one of you. Let's move!" She commanded.

As she entered her bedroom, Olivia heard her cell phone ringing. She noticed it was Cyrus and answered the call. "Cyrus! How are you?"

"Hey, Liv. I'm good, thanks. How are you?" Cyrus chirped on the other end.

"I'm great actually. I'm getting ready for my date tonight." She was gushing like a teenager and hated herself for it, even though she was smiling like a loon.

"Oh my gosh! That's right, it's tonight. I'm so glad to hear you are going for a night out on the town. You deserve it, Liv." Cyrus heard the excitement in her voice and was truly happy for her. "I won't keep you on the phone long. I just wanted to see if you would like to come over for dinner on Tuesday night? We could discuss the adoption in further detail, if you're available?"

"It depends, Cyrus. What's for dinner?" She already knew the answer, but this was an age old dance the two of them knew very well. Olivia was grinning as she waited for his answer.

Cyrus chuckled and shook his head just the way fathers do their daughters at times. "You know James always makes your favorite when you come over for dinner."

"Then yes, I'd be happy to come over. My assistant found some new information on adoption that we need to discuss." Olivia was so grateful for her relationship with Cyrus that bordered father/daughter. "I've got to go finish getting ready, but I'll be in touch with you this week to set up a time."

"Have a great time tonight, Liv. Be careful and make him treat you right. Talk to you soon."

"Have a great weekend, Cy. Give James my love." Olivia ended the call, feeling much more peaceful about her date tonight. Somehow talking to Cyrus was exactly what she needed. She would have to remember to take him a bottle of his favorite bourbon as an unspoken thank you on Tuesday.

The radio was pumping out something with a great beat throughout her house. Olivia caught Abby and Yvonne walking toward her bedroom, with filled wine glasses in their hands. She took her glass, raised it high, and said, "To tonight! May we all get laid!" The ladies downed their wine in between giggles.

Olivia walked into her bathroom and put her dress on over the sexy black lace panties she had also bought today. She debated hair up or down and in the end left it down. It hung in loose waves just past her shoulders. She applied her make up with precision, purposefully leaving her lipstick off, and walked back into her bedroom a short while later for approval. Yvonne gave her a wolf whistle while Abby tried to grab her ass. "What is wrong with you two?" She laughed.

"Holy shit! The pictures you sent of this dress didn't do it justice! This dress looks like one piece of silky plumb colored ribbon that starts at your left shoulder and winds continuously around your itty bitty body until it hits your knees. It's a screw me dress, Liv!" Abby clapped giddily and asked with a knowing grin, "Did you buy the condoms? You're gonna need them."

Yvonne was looking at Olivia and smiling. "You look really beautiful. Go put on your jewelry and the shoes so we can see the finished product. Then we need to get out of here before he shows up."

"I was thinking we could stay until he gets here. I'd like to meet him, Liv." That wasn't going to happen tonight and Abby knew it, but she asked anyway as she watched her friend put on her earrings.

Olivia looked at Abby in the mirror of her bathroom and laughed hard. "Believe me when I say that I plan on introducing you to Fitz really soon, Abby. But it ain't happening tonight! I did buy a box of condoms today. And yes they are magnums, so stop worrying so much, mom." She stuck her tongue out at her friend.

"He'll be here in less than an hour. You look perfect. The dress, the shoes, the hair." Yvonne shot a victorious look at Abby and reiterated her point. "I told you the hair would look better down. Lawyers think they know everything." She gave Abby an exaggerated eye roll. "Give us a twirl so we can see the entire thing all at once." Olivia obliged and turned slowly in a circle once. "Perfect."

"Not quite perfect. You don't have any lipstick on, Liv. You probably forgot but you need to put some on before he gets here. He has to go home trying to figure out how to get your lipstick off his collar." Abby interjected.

"I didn't forget the lipstick, Abby. I didn't put any on because when he gets here, I'm going to need him to kiss me. It's been a long twenty four hours, and with all the texting, and sexual tension he's put me through, I'm getting a kiss." Olivia looked at Yvonne apologetically. "It's also why I chose to leave my hair down. If he puts his hands in my hair, I won't be worried about him messing it up. I'll put my lipstick on in the car. I just didn't want it smeared on my face. And my lipstick isn't going to land on his collar."

"A win is a win." Yvonne said happily. "You would have looked beautiful with your hair up or down. The why isn't as important to me. But I won. So, Abby has to bring me coffee everyday next week. The good stuff too."

"You guys bet on my hairstyle for coffee? That's hilarious." She put her lipstick into her silver clutch along with the condoms and snapped it shut. "Let's have one more half glass of wine and then you two have got to go. I'm getting nervous." She confided.

They walked into the kitchen and Abby poured each of them a small amount of wine. Olivia looked at her two friends and smiled. "Before you both leave, I want to say thank you for being a part of this craziness. It was really nice to have the both of you to confide in and laugh with. I appreciate your friendship."

Yvonne took their wine glasses away from them. "This shit is getting sappy. Shut it down! You are going on a first date. You're not getting married. We have no choice but to listen to you blather on about your personal life, because you are my boss and her friend. Stop with the girly shit." She pointed her finger at Olivia for emphasis as Olivia tried to stifle a laugh and keep a straight face. "Enjoy a meal, watch a play, and then go to his place and screw him senseless. I gotta get out of here before my ovaries die. Have fun." And she walked out the door.

Abby and Olivia burst into infectious laughter. "Please keep her around, Liv. I freaking love her! But seriously, have a good time. And then have a REAL good time." Olivia nodded, the two friends hugged goodbye, and Abby left.

Olivia rinsed out the wine glasses and stuck them in her drainer. She'd put them up tomorrow. She walked back into her bedroom to take one last look at herself in the full length mirror. The dress did look like she was wrapped in silk ribbon, and she bet Fitz wouldn't be able to keep his hands off of her. She hoped not.

As she turned off the light in her bedroom, she heard a knock on her door. This was it. He was here. The butterflies were there, manageable, but not overwhelming. She was beyond ready to see him. She reached the door and pulled it open with a huge smile on her face.

All she saw were flowers. So many flowers at her eye level. "Olivia?" He asked.

"Fitz? Are you in there?" She giggled.

"Somewhere in here. Can I come in?"

"Give me your hand and I'll lead you to the counter." Fitz held out his hand and Olivia held on, bringing him into her home. "You can set them right here." Olivia was checking him out as he put the huge assortment of flowers down. He had on navy blue dress pants that were on the tight side, but fit him well. He wore a white dress shirt and the top two buttons were undone. Olivia could see a patch of brown chest hair poking out. He smelled better than the flowers and she licked her lips as her eyes traveled over his body before he turned to her.

Fitz set the flowers down and made sure they wouldn't fall off. He turned his full attention to his date as she stood in front of him, a vision of sex in purple. He stopped breathing and slowly looked her over from her beautifully waved hair to those familiar silver shoes. She looked at him waiting for his reaction. He let out his breath and stepped closer to her. He would be very careful, but hoped she wouldn't be mad. He toyed with the ends of her hair between his fingers before he crashed his mouth onto hers in a hungry kiss.

Olivia apparently had been waiting for the kiss, he noticed, as she eagerly kissed him back. He wasn't completely content until he felt her slender fingers in his hair. She wanted more, and if he hadn't already had reservations at a great restaurant, they would have stayed in for the night and he would have given her everything. But this was her night, he reminded himself, as he pulled away from her. They were both breathless and obviously wanting so much more. He reached for her hand to hold in his and gave her a lopsided smile. "We'd better go." He said more to himself than to her. Fitz was already looking forward to the end of the night.


	6. Let's Play A Game

Let's Play A Game

Fitz and Olivia walked outside into the warm evening, still holding hands. She noticed a sleek black town car parked at the curb as Fitz guided them towards it. She looked at him questioningly but said nothing as the driver opened the door and ushered them inside. Fitz thanked the driver before climbing inside the back seat beside Olivia.

The buttery leather seats made it easy for Fitz to slide close to her. He put his arm around her and she happily settled into him. Olivia looked around the interior of the car and noticed there was a partition between the front and back seat. There was a lot of room in the back of the car too. Both were of great interest to her tonight. Sex in the car, she mused. Very interesting. She glanced up at him from under her lashes and saw that he was looking back at her. Afraid that he could read her dirty mind, she reached up to fidget with one of her earrings.

Fitz chuckled and put his finger under her chin to draw her attention up to his face. Still smiling, but with his eyebrows raised, he asked, "Did you fib a little when you told me about how good you are in a courtroom?"

Olivia instantly became defensive. "Absolutely not! I'm very good at what I do. Why would you ask me that?"

He dropped his finger from her chin and smirked at her. "I saw that you noticed the partition and the large space back here. And when you noticed that I saw your observation, you became almost...shy." Fitz turned in his seat facing her. "The woman I've been texting with and received a very sexy video from doesn't have a shy bone in her body. It made me wonder if you really have all that back bone, or have just been trying to make my life really hard?"

He was baiting her. Olivia knew it with everything within her, but still she took it. She smiled sweetly at him. He was watching her, waiting to see what she would say. She put her hand on his chest and firmly pushed him back against the seat. She silently thanked whoever had made her dress so flexible, as she slowly slid it high up her thighs.

Fitz gave her his undivided attention while he watched in carnal fascination as the hem of her dress rose higher. His mouth was watering and he was feeling warm. He needed the air conditioning on. Now! But he didn't dare to move for fear he would miss something. He locked eyes with her as Olivia slithered over his lap and then straddled it. Fitz's hands were on her hips in an instant as she ground her core on  
him mercilessly slow. He was about to take her right there in the back seat. She was driving him fucking crazy and his body was yearning for hers.

Olivia leaned close to his ear as his grip on her hips tightened, and whispered, "Your life isn't the only thing I want to make really hard." She ran her tongue along the shell of his ear and sighed into it. She once again grinded her center onto his impressive erection. "It seems I have succeeded with both of my goals. I do hope you're ok?"

Something in him snapped. Fitz growled possessively, put his hands on her barely covered ass, and flung her down on the seat, covering her body with his. He ravaged her mouth as his hands touched every inch of her exposed skin. Olivia felt even better beneath him than he had imagined. And he had spent a lot of time imagining it.

This is what she wanted from Fitz. No, craved. She had no problem driving him to the edge of insanity. Watching him jump over that edge was truly exhilarating. Being pulled along with him was sublime. He had gifted hands and she appreciated his skills. One of those hands was apparently not letting go of her lace covered ass. The other one, however, was all about figuring out the curves of her body. His mouth was quickly learning which places on her skin drove her into madness. Olivia was purring under his capable hands and couldn't be happier. As much as she was looking forward to enjoying their first real date, Olivia could not wait until they were truly alone at the end of the night. If this was the foreplay, the sex was bound to be explosive!

She grabbed a handful of his ass with one hand, as her legs wrapped around his waist, while the other was devoted to the curls in the back of his head. She loved the soft feel of his hair between her fingers. She grabbed a handful of it and pulled his head back from her neck. His tongue was currently licking and sucking her neck and was heading for her breasts. She was losing her clarity and they needed to stop.

Fitz, who was breathless and busy handed himself, lifted his head and shot her an annoyed look. His mouth was open and his hair was gloriously messed up. Olivia grinned at him and pulled his face to hers for an unhurried kiss. He laid his forehead on top of hers as his heart pounded wildly. They stayed as they were, staring at each other for a while. Fitz started to pull up, to take his weight off of her, but Olivia locked her legs around him tighter, effectively holding him in place.

"I really like riding in the car with you." Fitz wiggled his eyebrows up and down repeatedly and gave her a smacking kiss.

Olivia laughed at him and pinched his ass. When he flinched, she pulled him back down for a slow sensual kiss. Her belly growled loudly in the middle of it. Mortified, she tried to hide her face from him as he laughed at her. Fitz sat up in the seat and pulled her onto his lap as she burrowed her face into his shoulder. "I think my girl is hungry." He put his arm around her and said, "Let's make ourselves presentable and go inside the restaurant for dinner."

Olivia asked how much further the restaurant was and Fitz informed her they were currently parked outside it. After showing a horrified look on her face, she started with the rapid fire questions. "Are you serious? We're already here? How long have we been here?" She pushed herself off of his lap and sat in the seat beside him trying to straighten her dress out.

Fitz was enjoying the transformation of give-it-to-me-now Olivia, to I-don't-do-things-like-that Olivia. He was laughing at her as he tucked his shirt into his pants. "Do I have lipstick on my collar or my face? We are upstanding people and we can't have that in this particular establishment."

Olivia slapped his arm and laughed with him. "You own a bakery. You're not the President of the United States. Besides, no lipstick anywhere."

"You didn't even look to make sure," he whined.

She tried to play it cool. "I don't have to look because I didn't put any on before I left the house."

Fitz was giving her that knowing lopsided grin again but she was avoiding looking at his smug face. "Oh? And why is that, Miss Pope?"

He knew why. And he wasn't going to let it go. She decided to come clean. Sort of. "Because we were headed to dinner and it would have come off when I ate anyway."

Fitz grabbed her and set her back on his lap with a gleam in his eye. "Liar. Tell me the real reason."

Olivia was back to fidgeting with her earring, still avoiding his face, and trying in vain to hide her smile. "That is the real reason. Now let me up, so we can get to dinner. I'm starving."

Once again, his index finger was under her chin directing her eyes to his. "Tell me," he simply yet powerfully stated.

She had no power under the spell of his baby blue eyes. God, she wanted him on top of her all over again. She reached up and played with his curls. Her curls now. Very shyly she gave him the truth. "I have been waiting for you to kiss me all day. I didn't want lipstick to get smeared on our faces when you did."

Fitz was pretty sure Olivia had no idea what she did to him. He pulled her close to him in a warm embrace. This was not the time for sarcasm. He felt her arms go around his neck and closed his eyes with a smile on his face. He pulled her out of the hug and reached up to her cheek to rub it with his thumb. "I have spent my day counting the minutes until I could kiss you again." He tilted his head and leaned to her face and their lips found each other. Her tongue met his in lazy, yet satisfying caresses. She pulled back from the kiss and tried to fix his hair. The happy couple exited the car and walked into the restaurant.

Fitz may not be the President, but he was apparently well known at this particular restaurant. He called the maître d by name, shook hands with him, and asked him about Ryan. When Fitz was told all was well, the couple was taken to their table. A bottle of champagne was already chilling in a silver bucket at the edge of the beautifully set table. Fitz pulled out Olivia's chair and waited for her to settle in it. He took his own chair across the table from her and immediately reached to hold her hand on top of it.

The waiter appeared and poured them each a glass of the cold fizzy drink. He told them about the specials, took their orders, and disappeared. Olivia looked around the dining room, taking in the lovely view. "How have I missed this place? The view is gorgeous."

She brought her eyes back to her date, who was still looking at her intently. "The view is superb." Olivia smiled at him. Fitz raised his glass and offered a toast. "To the end of this date."

She picked up her glass, clinked her glass to his, and with hungry eyes said, "I'll drink to that!" They sipped their drinks and the conversation flowed easily between them. She learned that he had never seen Hamilton either and that he was just as excited to see it as she was.

She asked him about the earlier conversation with the maître d and who Ryan was. Fitz explained that Ryan was the man's six year old son, and that he had visited The Sweet Spot earlier in the school year with his class on a field trip. While at the bakery, the boy had unknowingly dipped his finger into some frosting that had peanut butter in it. Ryan had started gasping for air and turning blue around his lips,  
experiencing an allergic reaction. Luckily, the boy's teacher saw what was happening and injected him with the Epi Pen Ryan's parents had sent with him. Fitz had stayed with the boy until the EMT's had arrived.

Olivia gave his hand a light squeeze and said, "So you know exactly what to do if I ever stop breathing?"

"Oh, Miss Pope, mouth to mouth would be my first and immediate response." He squeezed her hand and got a quiet hum of appreciation from her in return.

They shot each other lust filled looks all through dinner. The sexual tension took up all the air in the room. They still had to sit through a three hour play. Olivia knew the night would be a long one. She decided to look forward to small moments and enjoy them as they came, until they were back at her house, blissfully alone. Right now, she was anxious about getting Fitz back in the car. He just had to pay the bill while she used the ladies room. He met her at the door and she slid her arm through his and stood on her tip toes to kiss his cheek.

As if reading her mind, Fitz leaned down to whisper in her ear. "I can't wait to get you back in the car."

The throbbing between her thighs was working over time. Knowing that he was just as gloriously miserable and turned on as she, wasn't of any comfort to Olivia. What she really wanted was to tell him to skip the play and go straight home, peeling off clothing on their way. But she knew these tickets had been expensive, and she had been wanting to see Hamilton ever since the rave reviews came out on opening night. She promised herself she would give the play her complete attention and enjoy it.

But she planned enjoying Fitz until they got there.

Once again, the driver opened the back door for them and waited patiently until Fitz and Olivia got in. The moment he closed the door Olivia was back on top of his lap, kissing him with great fervor. She suddenly stopped, mid-kiss, and smiled at him. "Thank you for dinner. It was really lovely."

"If this is how you say 'thank you', we are going out to dinner every night!" He cut off her giggle with a mind numbing kiss that was accompanied by his very large hands on her backside. He was easing her dress up her slim brown thighs while his mouth skillfully kept her occupied.

Fitz knew sitting through the play was going to be difficult. He had every intention of keeping his hands to himself once they arrived at the theater and watching the play. He was starting to doubt his ability to stick to that plan. She had stirred something deep inside of him that he hadn't felt in a very long time. And he couldn't get enough of the feeling. How ridiculous of a thing to think about someone he had only known a few days. The satisfying thing was that he knew she felt the exact same way with the exact same intensity. God, she was beautiful.

She was getting dizzy. She needed air. She pulled back and looked up at the roof of the car to breathe. Her heart was hammering in her chest. Her lips felt happily swollen. Her hair was probably a mess. And she felt the breeze of the air conditioning blowing on her ass. What the hell? When had he pulled her dress up? She felt those big hands kneading her lower cheeks as his tongue ran lazy lines up and down her throat. This man had the best mouth. He could literally do just this for hours and she would be a deliriously happy woman.

His mouth had moved to her neck and was making little circles with his tongue on it. Olivia decided to have her own fun while he enjoyed his. She undid a few more buttons on his shirt and splayed her fingers on his chest. Again, she hummed in appreciation and leaned down to trail kisses down his neck. She could hear Fitz breathing heavy but his hands never stopped moving on her butt. She decided he must be an ass man and would test that theory later. His head was leaned back against the head rest and his eyes were closed as he simply let her enjoy what she was doing.

Olivia knew Fitz was enjoying it just as much as she was. He whispered her name every so often. She decided to turn up the heat a little more. She picked up her head and looked at his handsome face. She couldn't help it; she leaned in and kissed him. Fitz sighed and allowed himself to sink into the kiss wholeheartedly. As she kissed him, Olivia reached down and unbuckled his pants, and then dragged the zipper down.

The car came to a stop and Olivia could see the bright lights of the signs. Knowing there wasn't time for her to follow through with her plan, she gave Fitz an unsatisfied huff. He chuckled at her annoyance. He wrapped his arms around her little body and cheerfully said, "I want you to know that we will enjoy the play. It's going to be great. But I also want you to know that we will not be sleeping at all tonight. I have spent most of my free time thinking of the various and very creative ways I plan on having you." He paused to enjoy the little whimper she made in anticipation. "At one point you WILL be on your hands and knees in nothing but those new shoes. And that's going to be great too. Now, once again, let's make ourselves presentable and go enjoy this play that I don't even care about anymore."

Olivia laughed until her belly hurt. He knew exactly how she was feeling. How refreshing that was for her. He wanted her just as much as she wanted him, but the knowledge of it was frustrating at this point of the evening. She was reminded of their playfulness as a smile tugged at her mouth. While he was  
looking into his own reflection of the heavily tinted windows, Olivia slipped off her black lace panties. Fitz realized there wasn't much hope for his hair after she had had her hands in it, but he wouldn't have it any other way. He turned back to her and was about to give her a quick kiss when she held her closed hand out to him.

He met her eyes and his face scrunched up in question as he looked at her hand. When Olivia didn't say anything, but shook her hand at him, he opened his hand and held it out. She dropped the lace into his hand and his eyes instantly went dark. "I've gotten used to the air blowing on my ass, and these are hindering that. Would you mind holding onto them for me please?" She batted her eyes at him repeatedly.

His large hand closed slowly around the tiny material. His eyes swept to her center and lingered there as he licked his lips. He was going to be so lost during this play. It might as well be done in French. "You will pay for that later, Miss Pope."

As Olivia stepped out of the car, she looked at him over her shoulder, winked, and said, "Do you promise, Mr. Grant?" She heard him groan and she smiled at her little victory.

Three hours later, the curtain closed and the lights in the theater came up. Fitz and Olivia had all but forgotten about each other while watching the show. Both had been completely enthralled by the play and thoughts of sex had been the last thing on their minds.

Olivia blinked repeatedly at the bright overhead lights. Time had flown by quickly somehow. The music was phenomenal and so inspiring. The acting was superb and had sucked her right into the story from the beginning. She glanced over at Fitz and saw that he too was adjusting to the lights. She was glad they hadn't skipped the play after all.

Fitz had heard good things about the play, but they were nothing compared to actually watching it for himself. It was so well acted and the singing and dancing were perfection. He loved the time period costumes too. It really was no wonder this show had received so many Tony awards. Everything about it made him glad he had bought tickets. It had been a great first date and they were almost at the end of it. He smiled to himself gleefully.

They gathered their play bills and made their way to the car, holding hands again. Fitz and Olivia slid into the back seat of the car where she laid her head on his shoulder and thanked him for a beautiful first date.

She reached down to slip off her shoes, to relieve some of the aching in her feet. Fitz quickly but gently grabbed her wrist, causing Olivia's head to snap up. "I believe we have discussed that those shoes have not fully served their purpose yet, Miss Pope. The shoes stay on your feet."

If he was going to torture her feet, she was going to torture him. With her eyes on him she nodded; and then laid down on the seat and put her feet in his lap. She watched Fitz turn toward her in the seat and scoot a little closer. It was exactly what she wanted him to do. She picked up a heeled foot and put it firmly on his chest while the other one rested on his lap. She got what she wanted and she smirked openly.

Fitz was going to get what he wanted too. He started gently rubbing the ankle on his lap and smiled knowingly at her. His hands very slowly moved up, rubbing her calf. The foot on his chest stayed put. Just as he wanted it to. "I'm glad you had a good time tonight. Dinner was great. Hamilton was amazing." His hands were on her knee now, still gently rubbing. "What would you like to do on our next date? I picked this one, so you can choose the next one."

Olivia closed her eyes and sighed. His hands felt good massaging her leg muscles. Maybe she shouldn't have been so 'playful' with him. "You have set the bar really high with a Broadway play. Anything I suggest will never come close to the greatness of that."

"I told you I'm a damn catch." He waited for her expected chuckle, loving the sound of it. "Whatever we do, it will be greatness because I'm with you." Fitz felt her relax even more at his assurance. She was distracted and he smiled devilishly to himself as his hands moved up to her thigh. "What do you want to do next?"

"I want to kick your ass at bowling, eat nachos and drink cheap beer. Does that still sound like greatness?" She smiled at him in the darkened car.

"It does. It sounds fun actually." Fitz wanted to see how fierce their competitive sides came out with each other.

"Getting your ass kicked sounds fun?" Olivia snorted at him. It was then that she realized where his hands were, and froze.

"Speaking of ass, did yours get enough air tonight, Miss Pope?" His voice was a deep baritone, full of desire. "I did warn that you would pay for that." One of his hands was on her hip sliding around to cup her right ass cheek. The other one was kneading her inner thigh and was mere centimeters from her core. Olivia started to pull her heeled foot from his chest, but when Fitz growled at her in warning and said, "Don't you dare," she put it back.

"Here's what is going to happen right now, Miss Pope. You played a game and lost. Now it's my turn. All that is required of you is that you stay right where you are." His left hand grazed her core as it continued it's journey up her body to the top of her dress. A moan dripping with desire slipped out of her mouth. He pulled one side of the dress down, pleased in knowing there was no barrier between his hand and her breast.

Fitz heard the noises she was making and it drove him on. His hand returned to her inner thigh as his fingertips made swirling lines there, teasing her. With her foot still on his chest, he leaned down and captured her nipple in his mouth, sucking it hard. He heard Olivia cry out in pleasure as she arched her back, giving him more access. He sucked and licked the now tight bud, feeling her thrashing underneath him.

"Fitz, please! Oh my god, don't stop!"

The sound of her heavy breathing coupled with her begging was almost enough for him to just take her. But their first time was not going to happen in a car. He needed room to move and apparently so did she. Somehow through the lust he was experiencing he felt the car stop. He had been impatiently waiting for it. They were back at Olivia's house. He just had to get them across her doorframe. The rest didn't matter.

He released her nipple and pulled the front of her dress up to cover her. He pulled her leg from his chest and set both of them on the floor of the car. Then he pulled her up from the seat and onto his lap. "We are finally back at your house, Miss Pope. If we can manage to get inside, I would very much like to continue with my turn. Are you ok with that?"

She kissed him passionately in reply. Her hands were in his hair and she wasn't being gentle with the curls this time. "Hurry," she whispered.

Fitz grabbed her hand and turned toward the door when his phone rang. He had zero plans of answering it tonight or at all this weekend, until he saw the name of the person calling. He looked at Olivia and said, "I'm sorry. It's my mother. Give me a minute please."

"Hello? Fitz?" His mother sounded frantic. "Thank God." She started crying uncontrollably.

"Mom? Slow down. Breathe. What's the matter?" She was going to have to calm down so he could understand what she was saying.

"I need you to come to St. Frances hospital, Fitz. Your father has had a heart attack. Please come quickly."

"I'll be right there mom." Fitz ended the call and gave the driver the name of the hospital. 


	7. Do Not Deviate

Do Not Deviate

"I'll walk you up to your door, make sure you get inside safely, and then head to the hospital. I'm really sorry our date ended like this, but I'll text or call you with updates on my dad." Fitz was holding her hand and was about to get out of the car.

Time was of the essence and she knew he needed to go, so she just said it. "If you don't want me to go with you, I completely understand. This is a family emergency and your mother needs you. But if you don't have any objections, I'd really like to go with you."

Truly touched, Fitz hugged her close to him. It had been a long time since anyone, besides family, had been there for him in a time of need. He pulled her back and looked into her beautiful brown eyes. "Are you sure? I mean, I would love for you to go with me, but it's been a long day. It's already after midnight and I don't know how long I'll be with my mother. No to mention the fact that we aren't exactly dressed to pull an all nighter at the hospital. I don't want you to feel uncomfortable sitting in a hard plastic chair in the waiting room in that dress. I feel terrible that our date ended like this."

Olivia put both of her hands on his cheeks and looked into his sad eyes. He needed her and she wanted to be there for him. "Fitz, stop apologizing. There's nothing to be sorry about." She gave him a quick peck on the lips. "We need to get to the hospital so you can be with your mom. Nothing else matters right now, okay? So let's go."

She held him close to her and talked about the play in an effort to keep his anxious mind off of his father. She got faint hums in agreement, but for the most part, it didn't work. From what he had told her before tonight, Olivia knew he had a good relationship with both of his parents. She knew that made things like this a lot harder to deal with. As the car drove through the dark and mostly empty streets of New York, she felt Fitz pull her even closer. He whispered in a wavering voice, "I'm really glad you came with me. Whatever happens, it'll be easier to deal with knowing you are beside me."

The drive to the hospital took too long in Fitz's mind. Once they arrived at the hospital, he and Olivia stopped at the nurses desk and were directed to the emergency room. They found his father lying in a bed, looking lifeless. Faint beeping sounds came from the machines attached to Mr. Grant's body. The His mother looked up and the moment she realized it was Fitz, she walked to the doorway where he stood and hugged him tightly. Fitz asked the obvious question. "Mom, what happened?"

"You father was watching the news in his recliner, just like he does every night. As he sat down he said his shoulders and arms felt sore. He had cut the grass before dinner, so I didn't think much of it. When I  
asked him how long it had felt that way, he told me it had started during dinner." As Mrs. Grant recalled what had happened, her voice became a little stronger. "A little while later, he told me he wasn't feeling well. I thought he was just tired and had overdone it with the grass. But then...He said he was having a hard time breathing. He was covered in sweat and was gasping for air."

Fitz was hugging his mother like she used to when he was a kid with a scraped knee. She was a tiny woman, but the Grant men knew from an early age that while she was a funny woman, you didn't cross her. And her sons immediately jumped to her defense whenever anyone made their mom mad. Fitz always admired her strength and that's why it was difficult for him to see her so upset. He could feel her breathing slowing down and hoped she was starting to feel a little better in spite of the situation.

Olivia felt like an intruder and turned to leave. She would come back after his mom had updated Fitz on what the doctor had said. Fitz caught Olivia's movement and he reached for her hand. He understood why she might want to give them some privacy, but he very much wanted her to stay. He locked fingers with Olivia and sent her a smile, all while holding his mother. These were two of the strongest women he knew, and Fitz wanted them to like each other.

Mrs. Grant looked down at their joined hands and gave Fitz a teary eyed smile. "I am so sorry, dear. In all my blubbering, I have been completely rude to you." She wiped her eyes with her hands and gave Olivia a smile.

"Oh my goodness, not at all, Mrs. Grant. I'm sure it's been an extremely rough evening for you." Still thinking of a way to let the two of them talk, Olivia asked, "Is there anything I can get you? Some coffee? Something to eat? I'm happy to help in any way."

Mrs. Grant took a step back from Fitz and watched the two of them. "I like her, Fitzgerald. She's trying to escape politely, but I like her." Mortified at being called out by his mother, Olivia tried to deny it as she stumbled through an apology. Seeing the grins that passed between Fitz and his mother made Olivia squirm. "It's quite alright, dear. I understand I must look like a crazy person right now. Let's start over, shall we? I'm Fitz's mother, Emma."

Olivia and Emma shook hands and exchanged smiles. "It's very nice to meet you, in spite the circumstances. I'm..."

"Olivia. I know who you are, dear. You are all I've heard about from my son the past few days." Emma looked Olivia over from head to toe. "It appears my phone call interrupted your date."

"Not exactly, Mrs. Grant..."

"Please call me Emma."

"Emma." Olivia felt a little more at ease as they talked. "We were actually saying goodnight when Fitz got your call. I offered to come with him. I hope that is alright with you."

"Saying goodnight is young people code for something else entirely. And I would rather not think about my son that way." Olivia's face couldn't get any redder. She was the most embarrassed she had ever been in her entire life. She refused to even look at Fitz.

Fitz chuckled and pulled Olivia to his side and chided his mother. "Leave her alone, mom. We are grown ups." Fitz looked around the room conspiratorially and whispered to his mother, "This is going to shock you, but I'm not a virgin anymore."

Olivia wished she had stayed home. This was absolutely mortifying conversation to hear Fitz and his mother have and she was trying to avoid it by looking at the floor. The hand on Olivia's side held firm, and that was of great comfort to her. But when they started laughing, she looked up at both of them. What the hell was going on, she wondered.

"I like her, Fitz." Emma gave Olivia a warm smile as an apology. "I'm sorry, Olivia. I like to test the women he brings around the family to see if they will run for the hills or are made of stronger stuff. I call it a mother's prerogative. One day you'll know what I'm talking about. "

"Has Fitz brought many women around to meet the family, Emma?" Olivia asked without shame.

"I think we are done with this conver..." Fitz tried.

"Oh Fitzgerald," Olivia began in a warning tone, "You do not get to say anything right now. I am chatting with your lovely mother. You just stand there and be handsome."

Emma grinned at Olivia. She liked this girl. She had spunk. Emma knew her son needed more of that in his life. She had always thought that honesty was the best policy and saw no reason to stray from it now. However, Mrs. Grant also knew some things weren't hers to tell. "A few, when he was in high school. But none of them seemed to work out." She reached out and pinched Fitz's cheek lovingly. "My sweet boy the bachelor."

"I feel like I'm in high school, with the two of you talking about me like I'm not even here." Fitz rolled his eyes for added effect, but got no sympathy from either woman. Turning to his mother, he asked, "What did the doctor say when he saw dad?"

"The doctor said even though we didn't come in as early as we should have, we got here before serious damage could have been done to his heart." Emma started to pace as she spoke. Olivia watched her and smiled knowingly. She too paced when working something out. "He's pretty confident that your dad will make a complete recovery. They are going to run more tests on him in the morning just to be sure. It was the most frightened I've been in a very long time. And when I get him back home, I'm going to kick his ass for it."

"So you're saying he's just resting right now?" Fitz asked.

"He's had a busy day, Fitz. He's cut the grass and had a mild heart attack. It's bound to make even the strongest man a little tired." Emma looked over at her husband fondly, grateful he was still alive. If he had died, she would have been too pissed off to kick his ass.

"I wish you would explain these things faster, mom. I thought those beeping machines were keeping him alive!" Fitz's voice was getting louder and the moment he realized it, his mother sent him one raised eyebrow. It was enough to silence him completely.

Olivia watched the interesting little exchange between mother and son. Fitz may be over six foot tall and a grown man, but his five foot tall mother was still an authority figure to him and he greatly respected her. She heard Fitz breathe a sigh of relief and knew things were a little more right in his world, knowing that his father would be ok.

"Do you want to walk with me to the cafeteria and get some coffee, Fitz?" Olivia thought it might be good for him to have something to do. She held out her hand to him and he took it. "Would you like for us to bring you back anything, Emma?"

"If you see a donut that doesn't look like it's been sitting there for weeks, I'll take one please." She replied.

"Really, mom? You know how to wound a guy. I'll get you a cup of tea from the cafeteria. And tomorrow I'll bring you some fresh donuts from the bakery." Fitz knew what she was up to, but he let her think she was getting the upper hand.

Emma smiled victoriously at her son. "It's the only way I can get decent donuts from him. You would think giving birth to him would gain me some perks, but apparently not." She said with a dramatic sigh.

"Let's all take a ride on the guilt train." He flashed his mother a million dollar smile and then dropped it. When Emma laughed, Fitz shook his head and laughed with her. He kissed her on the cheek, said "I love you" and walked out of the room with Olivia.

Olivia was enjoying this side of Fitz. Watching him interact with his mother was nice. They obviously got along very well and respected each other greatly. And there was a lot of love between them. "Did anyone call your brother yet?" She asked him as they walked down the bland colored halls.

"Mom decided to let him sleep instead of waking him up in the middle of the night with news that dad will be fine." They were alone in a hall that led to the cafeteria with no one around. Fitz turned toward her and pulled her close to him so they were pelvis to pelvis. "I'm really glad that you came with me tonight. If my dad hadn't pulled this stunt, we would doing all kinds of interesting things to and with each other. I feel like I've been cheated."

Olivia walked her fingers up his chest to his lips and playfully said, "My poor baby, Fitzgerald. I promise to make it up to you really soon." The air between them stopped moving. Everything stopped moving. And then it sped up at lighting pace.

Fitz attacked her mouth hungrily. He pushed her up against the wall and grabbed her ass once again. When he felt her fingers in his hair, his hand pulled one of her legs up his outer thigh and then started powerfully kneading her lower cheeks. She might end up with bruises, but at that moment he really didn't care. Their tongues happily danced with each other ravenously. Anyone walking by might feel like they walked in on the start of a night shoot of an on location porno.

The anticipation of the expected end of the night festivities they both had shoved deep down came bubbling up to the surface as hands and mouths were everywhere all at once. Heavy breathing, curse words, and moans were coming from both of them. And still they didn't care. They couldn't get close enough to each other. Olivia, in a hazy moment of clarity, pulled away from his very eager mouth. That annoyed look momentarily came back to his face. He never looked more adorable to her.

Fitz rested his forehead on hers. "You've really got to stop putting on the brakes when things are getting good, Miss Pope. My heart rate can't take the whiplash."

"We are in a hospital where anyone could walk by and see us practically mating. Some restraint is needed at the moment." As she spoke, Olivia was scanning the empty hall for someone to come along and prove her point.

"You want to be restrained? Interesting. I had no idea you were that kind of girl, Miss Pope. I might like you even more now." Fitz was grinning at her like a madman, and as much as she tried to hold it back, Olivia ended up grinning right back at him.

Playful Olivia was too easy to slip into whenever Fitz was around. "I don't really know you well enough to answer that question, Mr. Grant" She stood on her tiptoes to his ear and in a flirty voice said, "It could be fun though." She pulled his earlobe between her teeth.

His eyes were glazed over. Fitz was ready to go home. How in the hell did this little woman affect him in such a big way? He wanted to take Olivia back to his place and discover all kinds of things with her. He wanted to build her up with his fingers and tongue and watch her fall apart. And then do it all over again. He wanted to make her scream his name in ecstasy. Fitz wanted Olivia like he had never wanted anyone before.

Olivia was staring into his distant eyes. His thoughts might as well have been on a billboard. She could hear the wheels turning in his mind. He was inadvertently licking his lips as his hooded blue eyes roamed her body. Right back atcha, big guy, she thought to herself. I've imagined you naked too and I want the real thing just as much. "Someone is thinking awfully loud."

Fitz raised his eyebrows and said, "I hope you heard me loud and clear because that's exactly how I intend to hear you when I finally get you alone."

"Promises, promises, Mr. Grant." She grabbed a handful of the front of his shirt and pulled him to her for a lust filled kiss. "We'll see who is screaming the loudest in due time."

Fitz gave her a superior smirk. "That's a challenge I'll definitely be up for."

"Oh, I'll make sure of it." She needed to stop flirting with him. She was seconds away from dragging him into an empty room and locking the door.

As if reading her mind, Fitz said, "We'd better go get the drinks. I can only stand here and be tortured by you for so long. Besides, mom will wonder what is taking so long."

Olivia laughed at his words. "I think your mother knows full well what is taking so long. What exactly have you told her about me?" They were holding hands and walking through the cafeteria now.

He wasn't going to tell Olivia everything he had told his mother. How could he tell her that she was the reason he smiled all the time? That he was constantly smiling because he was constantly thinking about her? That this seemed like it could be a long lasting relationship filled with fun and love and lots of adventure? He couldn't tell Olivia all that. She would think he was getting too serious way too fast. She would be scared off.

So he told her some of the things he had shared with his mom. "I told her that you are a lawyer who works hard and is a complete badass in the courtroom, although I have my doubts." She punched his arm playfully. "I told her that you are funny and smart and beautiful and challenging and..."

"You think I'm challenging?" She was kind of surprised by that and waited for an explanation.

Fitz kissed her cheek. "You have challenged my will power everyday since the moment I met you. Granted, it's only been a couple of days, but most definitely yes."

"You love it!" She was laughing at him now.

"What are you doing tomorrow? Do you have any plans yet? Because I would love to see you."

"Actually, every Sunday I have dinner at my parent's house. It's kind of a tradition they started ever since I moved out years ago. Mom makes a huge meal for the three of us and we all end up passed out. It's my favorite day of the week for all of those reasons. I guess you'll be here with your parents until your dad gets discharged?" she asked.

"I think I'm going to go home and take a shower after I take you home. I promised fresh donuts and believe me, she won't let that one go." He chuckled. "Besides, I don't want her to be here alone for long. I mean, she'll be fine, but I like being here for her. She's so strong that it doesn't happen very often."

Olivia didn't know how to say what was on her mind without it sounding condescending, so she just said it. "You are a good son. Your mom is a very strong woman, but the way you dropped everything to be with her when she needed you speaks volumes about how much you love and respect her. She may never say it to you, but she appreciates that. Any mother would."

"She tells me all the time that I am her favorite. It's understandable, don't you think? I mean, the way I..."

Olivia walked away from him. He was ridiculous. A funny man, but also a ridiculous one. He caught up with her laughing as he took her hand again. They got the hot beverages and walked back to his dad's room without interruption.

"Well, I was about to call the National Guard to go and look for you two." Emma said sarcastically.

"We had to wait for them to brew fresh coffee," he tried.

Emma saw through her boy. "Fitzgerald, you were a terrible liar at age six. You haven't gotten any better at it since then. I'm sure I don't want to know what took so long anyways."

"You might. It was really fun." He said with a gleam in his eye.

"Fitz!" Both Emma and Olivia said in unison.

Emma smiled at Olivia. "Why are you dating such a dufus, Olivia?"

"I've been asking myself that question all night, Emma." Olivia threw her hands up in the air. "I might need to re think my options."

"Miss Pope, that's not funny." He warned.

Olivia walked around Fitz's body and shrugged her shoulders. "I suppose he's not so bad." She gave him a big smile and winked at him.

Emma watched them staring at each other. There was something already between them. She could feel it and wondered if they could. Fitz was always a happy man, but he was settled around Olivia as well. It was everything a mother wanted for her child to find in another person. It was too soon to think like that, but as she continued watching them, maybe not.

"Mom, I'm going to take Olivia to her house, go home to take a shower, and then run by the bakery to grab you some donuts, as promised. I should be back in a few hours. Will you be ok?"

"I'll do my best, son. Please hurry though because I'm a little old lady in a big ole hospital." She rolled her eyes at him. Emma stood up and hugged Olivia. "It was very nice to meet you, dear. Even under these circumstances. I hope Fitz will bring you to the house sometime. His father will be upset that he missed meeting you. But I guess a heart attack is as good an excuse as any."

"It was really nice to meet you too, Emma. Don't worry, I'll talk Fitz into it." Olivia smiled at the woman.

Emma gave Fitz 'the look' and sternly said, "You make sure that you do those things exactly as you said, Fitzgerald. Drop Olivia off, go home, pick up donuts, and come back. Do not deviate from the plan. I'll be able to tell if you come back here trying to pass a lie off to me."

"You do realize I'm a grown man and can do what I want to, right? You aren't the boss of..." When his mother swatted him on the back of the head he went back to "Yes ma'am. No deviation from the plan." He kissed his mother and he walked out of the room with Olivia.

Fitz was busy thinking about how things would be once his dad got home from the hospital. Would he need any help getting around the first few days? Maybe. If that was the case, would he bitch and moan  
if anyone tried to help him? Probably. Would his mother overly worry about him every time he moved from his recliner? That was a guarantee. It should be a fun week, Fitz mused to himself.

They were just a short distance from Olivia's house when Fitz realized she had fallen asleep in the crook of his arm. When they pulled up in front of her house, Fitz grabbed her clutch in search of her key. Inside the dimly lit car, his hand fumbled over the box of condoms. Magnums too. He glanced at her angelic face and grinned at her. There was something mixed in there alongside the angel he saw on the outside. He'd save this information for future embarrassment purposes and put the box back inside the little purse.

He carried Olivia to the front door and unlocked it. He stepped inside instantly inhaling the scent of the flowers he had given her earlier that night. Or the night before, seeing how it was early Sunday morning now. Fitz flipped on the light switch and found his way back to her bedroom. He turned on the light and looked back down at her. He really wanted to put some pajamas on her, but his mother's damn voice was in his head. 'Do not deviate'. He rolled his eyes. He sit down on the bed and pulled back the comforter on her bed. He stood back up with her still in his arms and laid her on the sheets. He begrudgingly pulled her silver heels off, recalling the ideas he had had for those shoes.

Fitz sighed and pulled the blanket over her little body. He dragged the hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. "You and I are going to get to the end of a date soon, Miss Pope. Count on it." He got a light snore from her in return. He chuckled quietly, stood up, and said before leaving, "Sleep well, beautiful."


	8. Flee Or Feast

**Thank you to everyone reading my little story. It thrills my heart every time I see a review or follow. I'm sending out a special shout out to Noro, who was my 100th reviewer. I asked her to send me a sentence to add to this chapter for being the 100th and she delivered. See if you can find it. Happy reading.**  
 **Just remember; You asked for it...**

Flee or Feast

Olivia woke up late Sunday morning. After shaking the cobwebs from her brain, she realized she was in her bed. How the hell did she get here? The last thing she recalled was riding to her house in the car with Fitz. She must have fallen asleep on the way. She didn't remember. He probably brought her in the house. And put her to bed?

She flung the comforter away from her body with a flash and was partially relieved to see she was still wearing her dress from the previous night. She thought it was interesting that Fitz hadn't changed her into pajamas. He thought about it, she thought to herself on a laugh. She glanced over at the bedside clock and saw that it was 12:30. Wow. She never slept this late on the weekends. Still, she didn't rush around because there was nothing pressing to do and nowhere to go until dinner at her parents later that evening.

She decided to call him to get the story. She also just wanted to hear his voice. He answered on the second ring.

"Miss Pope, your timing is impeccable." He all but sang over the line.

Olivia could hear loud voices in the background. "Do I want to know where you are? It's loud."

"My dad was released from the hospital a short while ago when the doctor finally made his way to see him. I am at my parent's house trying to get him settled. Mom is listing what he can and can't do and my dad is telling her what she can do with her list. That's where the yelling is coming from. It's been entertaining as hell. And it's reminded me why I moved into the city."

Fitz walked outside and sat on his parent's porch swing to get away from the 'discussion' and to be able to hear Olivia better. He was glad she had called him. He already felt more calm. "They ran some tests on him early this morning and everything came out fine. He has to take it easy for a while, but other  
than that, he'll make a full recovery. He's not a man used to being told what to do. He keeps looking to me for back up but I'm more scared of my mother than I am of him."

Olivia smiled at his plight but worried about his parents. "Are they going to be ok? Your dad is going to listen to her, right?"

"He will if he plans to see his next birthday. Let's talk about something more interesting. Where are you?" He wanted to hear about her morning.

Olivia stretched under the comfort of the blanket. "Would you believe me if I said I was still in bed?"

"That IS a lot more interesting. Wait a minute." After a short pause he exclaimed, "It's almost one o'clock! And you're still in bed?"

Olivia could see his smile through the phone line. "About that. How exactly did I get in my bed?"

"I saw some stud of a man carrying you into your house last night. Big muscles. Very handsome." Fitz was grinning as the swing moved him back and forth. He waited for her reply. Their conversations were never mundane and always loaded with sarcasm. Oddly enough, it reminded him of his parents. He didn't know whether to be mortified or comforted with that discovery.

Olivia never missed a beat with him. It was as if they had been having these type of talks for years instead of days. "Really? Did you get his number? Big muscles and handsome all in one package? I would love to go out with a man like that. And he carried me all the way to my bed? How romantic."

She was pushing his buttons again. He had a feeling she wasn't quite done with it either. Fitz would have the last laugh on this conversation. He had an magnum sized ace up his sleeve and would use it shortly. But for now, he would let her continue to tease him. She seemed to like doing it, and he secretly liked it too.

"I wonder why a man like that left me in my dress? I mean, he could have easily put me in a t-shirt or left me naked. I'll have to ask him out on a date, that will no doubt end with lots of sex." Olivia listened to the silence on the phone line. "How exactly did he get into my house by the way?"

She had just set him up perfectly to play his last card. He smirked and nonchalantly replied, "He grabbed you from the back of the car and asked me to get your house key from your purse. For a tiny thing, it certainly does hold large items, Miss Pope." He reveled in the silence on the phone knowing he had one upped her.

Olivia put her phone on her pillow and pulled the blanket over her head. He had found the damn condoms. Of course he found them. She was never taking Abby's stupid advice again. The truth was she wasn't really embarrassed. They were both adults and she knew they both were looking forward to the sex that was, is, bound to happen. She had done the adult thing and planned for it. Now that she had calmed herself down and come to her own defense, lawyer style, she came out from under the comforter and picked up the phone with much more confidence.

"They are huge. I had to guess at the size. I wonder if I was wrong..."

"You are treading on dangerous grou..."

"Maybe one day I'll find out. But at this rate, I'll probably be so old that I won't remember what size is impressive anymore." HA! She had him there.

"So you're saying you plan on having me around when you're old and gray, Miss Pope? That is interesting news." Fitz felt like he had just hit a homerun.

He had her there. Sarcasm was unarguably a second language for Fitz, but she understood the language just as well as he did. "I just plan on having you."

"That is a good plan. And it's one we share. I'm leaving my phone at home on our next date." Fitz wanted their next date to be now. He wanted to spend more time with her. He couldn't get enough time with her in fact.

They both felt that way. Each wanted to spend as much time with the other as possible. The simple humor and playfulness of their conversations made the bond between them feel like they had known each other for so much longer than they actually had. It was kind of scary to realize that a person you just met could mean that much to you so quickly. Both Fitz and Olivia were realizing that their relationship was growing more and more each and every day, and realizing that this is how their life is supposed to be. With someone you feel like you can't go a day without talking to. With someone who  
makes you smile all the time. With someone who makes your heart skip a beat when you hear their voice.

"I noticed that my shoes had been taken off. I bet my strong and handsome mystery stud absolutely hated doing that." She recalled the plan he laid out in detail for her with those shoes and sighed.

"You have no idea. When exactly is our next date going to happen? I have a plan by the way. The perfect plan if I do say so myself, which ensures mutual satisfaction, AND if we are interrupted on our date we won't even care." Fitz smiled widely, very proud of his own cleverness. He knew Olivia would be on board with it as well.

Olivia sat up in bed all ears. "We could go out Monday night after work? What is this perfectly magical plan of yours that is causing you to sound so full of yourself? You have my attention."

"Let's start the date out with sex. All the sex you want. However you want it. Then we can go bowling, as you suggested. That way, if anyone interrupts date night, we will have already gotten the best part taken care of. It's genius, right?"

Olivia laughed loudly. It took a few minutes for her to get herself under control. When she did speak , she spoke in a sexy voice. "Do you really think that once I finally get you into bed that I am going to let you out? And if I did let you out, do you really believe that you are going to want to go bowling? And even if you did want to go bowling afterwards, I can promise you, Mister, you wouldn't have any energy for it."

"You know there is an easy cure for all of those wonderful questions you just posed. I could come over to your house right now and spend the afternoon in bed with you. I have nothing planned for the rest of the day, and I could easily recuperate while you go and visit your parents for dinner. And, when you got back home, I'd be rested enough to give you some more." He crossed his fingers and waited for a yes from her.

All it would take to alleviate this sexual frustration was one word. One simple word that would no doubt leave her feeling like a brand new woman. Olivia wanted to get this man into her bed so she could have her way with him more than anything. Why the hell not? "Be here in one hour. And you better live up to the fantasies I have been having about you."

Fitz gave her that sexy baritone voice, "The same goes for you, Miss Pope. I'll see you in an hour." He fist pumped the air in victory, hung up the phone, and ran into his parents house. He told them he had to go into the city for something that required his immediate attention. His father slumped in his chair with a scowl, knowing once his son left the house, his wife would be nagging him to death. His mother gave him 'the look' and he almost called Olivia back to cancel, knowing his mom knew what he was up to. But his penis screamed HELL NO, so Fitz kissed his mother on the cheek and told her he'd call and check on them in a few hours.

He ran to his car and drove like a madman into the city. He was going to get Olivia Pope between the sheets and do all kinds of unspeakable things to her. And if she lived up to the kinds of thoughts he'd been having about her, she was going to do the same to him. He couldn't wait. He glanced at his speedometer and took his foot off the accelerator. He did not have time to get a speeding ticket today. He was on a mission.

Olivia got out of her bed and jumped in the shower. She said yes. And she had only given herself an hour to get ready. What the hell was she thinking? She was thinking that Fitzgerald Grant was going to do all of those incredibly sexy things to her that she had been waiting for. She had to hurry up.

After applying scented lotion on her body, Olivia put on a red lace teddy with matching panties that tied on the sides of her hips. She brushed her teeth and applied some light make up. She put on some soft music and fresh sheets on her bed. She checked her reflection in the mirror and passed her own harsh inspection. A moment later, there was a knock on the door.

Olivia looked through her peephole and saw that it was Fitz. He looked handsome as always, and a little impatient. Oddly enough, she had no nerves. And no shame either. She opened the door to him wearing what she had on and not a stitch more. His eyes doubled in size and he took in every inch of her barely covered body as he stepped into her doorway. He pushed the door closed and locked it, with his eyes still on Olivia. She was making it hard for him to breathe. She was perfect. And she had said yes.

Olivia noticed the hungry look in his eyes, but neither one of them moved from where they stood. She decided to break the ice. "Do you want to sit on the couch and talk?"

Fitz walked the few steps to her and picked her up. Her lean brown legs wrapped around his waist as his hands went to her ass. "We'll get to the couch later. That's a promise. I'm going to bend you over it." He started walking towards her bedroom and kissed her like a desperate man, and she reciprocated. When he pulled back from the kiss, he dumped her unceremoniously onto her bed and said, "Talking is overrated, Miss Pope."

He pulled the black polo shirt over his head and threw it on the floor. He watched her eyes take in his bare chest. She was obviously pleased with what she saw because she got up on her knees and came closer to him. She ran her fingers up and down his broad chest, taking her time to feel every defined ab as she passed over each one. She hummed in female appreciation. She ran her fingers along his sides and up his back. Olivia hooked her hands over the back of his shoulders and pulled him down on top of her. "Hi," she said with a smile.

He responded with a smile, a quick peck on the lips, and his own breathy, "Hi." If either one of their phones rang for the next few hours, he was personally going to throw them out the window. No interruptions this time. He had her warm, willing, and ready for him and nothing was going to disturb them. He had big plans for the next few hours and decided it was time to get to work.

Fitz went back to kissing her with all the pent up sexual tension he'd contained for the last few days. He rolled them so that she was on top of him. He had his hands on her hips and just looked at her. She was stunning with her hair curtaining her face and swollen lips from his kisses. The look on her face was pure lust. She was way past prime for him and what he would deliver. Seeing her sitting on top of him was making the pressure behind his zipper even more unbearable. But he wasn't interested in rushing any part of this with her. He wanted their first time together to be memorable for both of them. He wondered what she was thinking, but didn't have to wait to find out very long.

Olivia ran her small fingers slowly down his chest, loving the feel of his muscles. He was in great shape and she showed her appreciation by leaning down and kissing each abdominal muscle. When she got to the waist of his jeans she looked up at him. He was barely breathing. She knew what he wanted. She was going to torture him some first.

She grabbed hold of his belt and very slowly unbuckled it. And undid the button. And slowly unzipped his jeans. She got off of him to go stand at the foot of her bed to drag his jeans down his long legs. The pants got thrown over her shoulder without a second thought. She got back on the bed, straddling his legs, and crawled up to him with her eyes on his the entire way. She stopped every so often to lick his skin. Each time she did, she heard him groan. The blue boxer briefs Fitz had on did not go unnoticed. And neither did the very impressive erection that was desperately trying to break out of them.

She sat on his chest when she reached his leaned down and her lips instantly fused with his, and her tongue was not shy as it probed in and out of his mouth. She felt his hands on her ass pulling her even closer towards him. One of his hands snaked it's way up into the back of her hair and Fitz grabbed a handful of it and pulled her head back. He latched onto her neck, kissing and sucking the smooth skin there. Olivia's back was arched and Fitz's other hand pulled one of the shoulder straps on  
her teddy down, revealing her breast. His mouth released her neck and immediately went for her nipple, sucking and licking it with great intensity. Olivia had slid down from his chest and was once again sitting on his lap. She was moaning loudly and grinding her core on his impressive length. She wanted him inside of her now.

"Fitz," she gasped for air between words. "Please. I want you now!"

He mouth stopped it's attack on her breast as he tried to catch his breath as well. "I have strict orders to live up to your fantasy. I'm trying to do that. Stop interrupting me, Miss Pope, or there will be consequences." He went back to the nipple.

"But I can't wait any longer. I want..." She didn't get a chance to finish her request.

Fitz grabbed her hands and pulled her to standing up on the bed. He rested on his knees in front of her and slid his hands up her outer thighs. He pulled her close to him, so her core was in his face. He twisted her hips to the left and saw the string on the side. He put the string between his teeth and looked up at her as he pulled his head away from her body, untying the string. Olivia whimpered. He twisted her hips to the right and with his eyes still on hers, did the same thing until the small piece of red lace fell to the bed. Still his eyes were on hers.

Holding her hand, he laid down on her bed and pulled her down to once again straddle his chest. "Consequences. You won't have a chance to talk for a while. I'd hold on to something if I were you." With his hands on her ass he pulled her core to his face and held nothing back. Olivia screamed his name over and over as his mouth continued the assault on her womanhood. He would drive her to the brink of climax and hum on her most sensitive part, sending her over the edge in a blur. She came loudly and repeatedly on his tongue, but he never gave her the chance to cool down between orgasms.

After three or four Fitz slid out from under her and laid her on the bed. She felt boneless he mused to himself. Maybe she learned her lesson. He hoped she hadn't as he had thoroughly enjoyed pleasing her. The exotic screams just drove him on in his mission to make a point. She looked tired and he smiled at her. He wondered how short her fantasies were. His...well, they lasted a whole lot longer than that. He was going to have to teach his girl some endurance.

Fitz laid down beside Olivia, giving her a chance to rest. She had her eyes closed so he closed his. A moment later, he felt her hand stroking him. "Is that all you got, Mister? You really don't know my fantasies very well, do you? We'll work on that." She pulled his boxer briefs off and continued.

His eyes flew open and he looked over at her smirking face. She leaned to him and kissed him like a woman gone mad. Olivia pulled away from his mouth and started kissing his neck. She moved up to his ear, licked it once and said, "Am I allowed to talk now?"

Fitz forgot how to talk. This vixen was currently working his body in the most delicious way. He needed to remember to let her play out her own fantasies on him instead of the other way around. He was as hard as iron and he wanted desperately to be inside of her. He groaned when she started moving away from his neck and down his chest. Sweet god, she was still moving south. He hoped he could hold it together long enough to finish the job the way he wanted. Her wet tongue licked his nipple and she trailed wet kisses further down. It felt so good.

She kept stroking him as she moved further down his body with her lips. She knew this wouldn't last very long but she wanted to taste him. She opened her mouth wide and took him in. There was way too much of him for her to take all of it. But she made most of it disappear. She listened to his shallow breathing and the various curse words he let out. He sounded like he was being tortured. Good. Now he knew how it felt. She sucked and licked him like it was her job. He seemed pleased with her skills.

Olivia was getting a good rhythm going when Fitz pulled her off of him. He growled in his throat and flung her on her back. He kissed her like a mad man. His hands pulled the red lace off of her body and threw it somewhere. He pulled her left leg up and settled it on his shoulder and drove into her with one swift thrust. She cried out as her body tried to accommodate his large size. Fitz stilled his body to give her time, as he kissed her neck. She relaxed so much easier with him distracting her body elsewhere. He came up out of her neck and smiled at her. "You ready for this?"

"Do your worst big fella." She smirked at him. Apparently that was the wrong thing to say to him. Fitz started jackhammering into her over and over. He was hitting her spot and while she tried hard to hold back, it was useless, and she came apart. Loudly. And still he didn't stop.

Fitz watched her face in fascination as it went from bliss to explosion. Olivia had a sexy explosion face. And then it would settle back down until he built it back up. He could watch the transformation all night. He leaned down to give her another smoldering kiss, knowing she was about to explode again. He swallowed her screams, curses, and moans, loving every minute of it. She was breathless and so damn sexy. He kept hammering into her until his own release got closer. He kept his eyes on her.

Olivia watched him when she could. This man was giving her orgasm after orgasm and still she wanted more. She could feel that he was getting near his own and she kept up with him thrust for thrust. He  
started shouting profanities and his face contorted. He groaned loudly and then his body went limp. She looked into his eyes and the two smiled very satisfyingly at each other.

Olivia put her hands in his hair and pulled him down for a slow kiss. Fitz put his weight on his elbows to keep as much of it off her as he could. He toyed with the ends of her hair and said, "That was amazing."

Playful and satisfied Olivia came out at this moment. "It was pretty good." She tried to kiss the tip of his nose but he pulled back away from her with a scrunched up face.

"Did you just say pretty good, Miss Pope? I just screwed your brains out and we both know it." His eyebrows were up in the sky somewhere waiting for a reply.

Of course she had one ready for him. "We'll see how well you do in round two, Fitzgerald."

Fitz started tickling her sides as Olivia screeched with laughter. "Do not call me Fitzgerald while we are naked. It reminds me of my mother and...Ok, see...Now it's gonna take me a few minutes to be ready for round two."

He got up off of her and the bed and started walking, gloriously naked to the kitchen. "Do you want anything to drink while I'm up?"

"I'll get you up," she muttered to herself, watching his ass. It really was a great ass. Abby was right, it needed to be bitten. Maybe during round two, she thought.

"What did you say?" He asked as he kept walking.

"Nothing. I'll drink whatever you bring back." She looked over at the bedside clock. Damn. It was 4:15. Olivia had to get up and start getting ready to go to her parents house. She needed to be there by six and they lived forty five minutes away. She really didn't want to leave this bed. The internal war started. Go to her parents and have dinner? Or stay here and feast on Fitz?


	9. The Fantasy Is Over

The Fantasy is Over

Fitz walked back into Olivia's bedroom but she was nowhere to be found. He heard the shower running and...singing? He walked into the bathroom as quietly as he could and listened to the free concert. She was singing the old Maroon 5 song 'Never Gonna Leave This Bed' and singing it well. He wondered about her song choice and why she had actually left the bed. Women were mind boggling.

He saw that she was busy washing, so he slipped into the shower. He wrapped his arms around her, but she wasn't startled. "You have a great singing voice. I could call Adam and see if he needs a back up singer on their current tour? I'd be happy to pull some strings for you."

Olivia pinched his ass making him yelp. "You're a funny guy. Maybe you're in the wrong field. I think you should consider being a stand up comic."

Fitz kissed her and everything was right in her world. She didn't want to be a singer on tour, but she did want this. And she was glad she had it. Had him. This felt right, and normal, and complete. It didn't make a lot of sense when she remembered how short an amount of time they knew each other. So she didn't think about that.

She wrapped her arms around him and informed him she was getting ready to go to her parents house for dinner after all. "You can order food to be delivered here. You don't have to stay, but I would love it if you were here when I got back." She had a gleam in her eye as she said it and it didn't go unnoticed by Fitz.

"Let me get this straight. You just had mind blowing sex with a damn good catch, and you are just going to traipse over to your parents house for dinner? And then you want me to wait here for you to come home? That sounds like an old married couple."

Olivia rubbed soap on her hand and started stroking his length as she replied to his closed eyes. "An old married couple couldn't get into half of the positions we just did. And I would like you to be here when I get back because after dinner I'm going to want dessert. And I suspect you will too. It's mutually beneficial, you see?"

Fitz couldn't see anything. He was lost in the feeling she was bringing to his body. He wanted her all over again. He knew she didn't have a lot of time, but figured she could spare a few minutes. "Are you all clean now?" He choked out.

"Mmmmm Hmmmm." She responded. "Why?"

"Because I'm about to get you dirty again." He picked her up and walked into the living room. To the couch.

"Fitz, I really don't have time for this. I'll be back in a few...Ahhhhh"

He put her down facing the back of the sofa. He reached around her body and started massaging her breast while planting baby kisses in her neck. His other hand was rubbing inside her lower lips making her squirm. He slid a finger inside of her and she started rubbing her ass against him and moaning. He loved the sounds she made as he pleasured her. It was like music to him.

Olivia's body was on fire. Every nerve was at attention. His mouth, his hand, and his fingers were pushing her towards a cliff. One she was desperate to jump off of. She turned her head toward him and found his mouth in a heated kiss full of passion. His hands never stopped their assault on her body as their need to connect only intensified what she was feeling. She laid her head on his shoulder and panted, as she reached the edge. He pinched her nipple and watched her face contort. She begged him and whimpered until that beautiful feeling took her over.

Fitz started rubbing her shoulders as she sagged against his chest. And then, suddenly, those same hands pushed her over the low back of the couch. Fitz ripped open a condom and slid it on his hard length. Olivia's face hit the soft cushion in confusion until she felt his hand lining himself up to enter her. Her mind told her she really didn't have time for this, but she told her mind to 'shut the hell up!'

Just as before, Fitz slammed into her wet core. Olivia moaned in ecstasy, loving the feeling of him filling her fully. He kept his hand on her back to keep her down as he slowly and lazily pulled out of her. Inch by inch he pushed back into her. She felt every long ridge of him and moaned his name as her core got even wetter.

From behind her, Fitz felt like a king. He was in control. He was taking his time this round and she was loving every minute of it. He too was moaning. It felt so good. She felt so good. This slow pace felt  
amazing, but he couldn't keep it up for long. He knew she had to go soon. They were definitely doing this again when she got back. Without rushing.

With Olivia in her happy place, she never even felt his hands go to her hips. But she did feel his pace change. Fitz went back to thrusting into her over and over, faster and faster. She stuck her ass out and looked over her shoulder at him. "Give it to me good." She had to pause to take several breaths and closed her eyes in concentration. That edge was coming faster this time and she braced her hands on the back of the couch to prepare for it.

When she opened her eyes again, he was looking at her intently. His body was rigid and she could tell he was about to climax too. Still he hammered into her with lightening speed. His body was truly amazing. She felt him going even faster, and as her own body was at the jumping off place, she reached back with one hand and interlocked it with his and in a shaky voice said, "Come with me, babe."

They both yelled loudly as the waves of pleasure took them over. The after shocks shook Olivia's body for a few minutes and they both drew ragged breaths into empty lungs. Fitz pulled out of her and cleaned them up with the towel he snagged from the bathroom. Fitz pulled Olivia close to his chest and walked them to the front of the couch. He flopped on it and she landed on his chest. He kissed her slowly with lots of tongue play. When she eventually pulled back he grinned at her. "Your couch is my favorite piece of furniture here."

Olivia settled into his chest and kissed it once. She looked into his serene blue eyes and said, "I have to get dressed. I'm going to be late as it is, and that will take some creative explaining."

"Just tell them you have a very handsome hostage in your house who couldn't keep his hands off you."

"You are so shameless." She laughed at his candor. "My father wouldn't find that very funny. My mother wouldn't either, but as a self proclaimed daddy's girl, I could never say that to him."

"Why not?" He asked simply.

Olivia knew how to stop his goofiness. "So before you left your mother's house you told her that you were coming to my house to screw me?"

Fitz gave her a smacking kiss and said, "Touché, Miss Pope." He grinned at her. "Or should I call you babe?"

"Why the hell would you call me that?" Her face was the picture of confusion.

"You called me that a few minutes ago." He smirked at her.

"No I didn't." She tried to get up, slightly embarrassed, but he held her tight to keep her in place. She gave up trying and admitted, "I've never called anyone that before. Are you sure you heard me right?"

When Fitz knew she wouldn't try to get up again he put his hands behind his head and gave her a superior smile. "I won't lie, I was very distracted at the time, but I know what you said." He reached up to give her a slow kiss. "Besides, I AM a babe. Now we both know it."

Olivia rolled her eyes and did get up off of his chest. "I gotta go" is all she said. She heard Fitz laughing at her as she walked towards her bedroom. She giggled as she walked. This ridiculous man was a babe. Maybe she'd keep him.

Twenty minutes later, Olivia was at the front door kissing Fitz goodbye. She didn't really want to leave, but since things between them were still so new, she figured she would keep her routine as close to normal as she could. For now.

"Eat something for dinner. And get a nap if you can. I'm not done with you yet and you'll need your strength. We've barely scratched the surface of my fantasies, Mister."

"A nap? Do I look a hundred years old to you? I think I have shown that I can keep up with you just fine. Drive safely, and bring my dessert back home as quickly as you can. Babe."

She loved his quick wit. Even when he was making fun of her. She grabbed his curls and pulled him close to her for a smoldering kiss. He was trying to pull her back towards the bedroom all through the kiss. She put her hand on his bare chest while laughing at his attempts and said, "I'll see you in a few hours."

She walked out the door and got into her car, driving to her parents house. Her southern region started protesting immediately, and Olivia almost turned around a few times within the first twenty minutes of the drive. To try to keep her mind off of what was waiting for her at home, Olivia called her parents to let them know she was running late.

Her father answered the phone. "Hey Munchkin! Are you still coming to dinner tonight?"

Olivia's dad had called her that nickname for as long as she could remember. Even in front of other people. It was mortifying when she was younger, but as she got older, Olivia found it endearing. Besides, part of a dad's job is to embarrass their kids. "Hey Dad. I'm in the car and on my way. I'm just calling to let you know that I'm running a little late. So don't eat all the rolls before I get there. You know I'll count them to be sure!"

Olivia heard her dad laugh and was glad she decided to come and see them. "Drive carefully. We'll see you soon." She ended the call and concentrated on the road.

All was going well until her phone started ringing fifteen minutes later. The car announced it was from Fitz. Those thoughts of turning around started coming back. She answered the call and his baritone voice filled the car. "Hey babe." Olivia rolled her eyes and refused to laugh at him. But it was hard. "You haven't turned around yet, babe? I've been looking for you to come back ever since you left, babe."

"I'm not turning around. Just because you are naked and in my house, doesn't mean that dictates my social calendar." She hoped she sounded convincing.

"I've got something you can dictate, babe." He was enjoying the sexual banter and adding babe to every sentence to unnerve her. God, he couldn't wait until she got back home. He already missed her and wanted her all to himself. The naked, warm, and willingness was an added bonus.

"I'm never speaking to you again." She laughed. "I'm pulling into my parent's driveway. I'll call you when I'm headed home. Try not to burn my house down while I'm gone."

"Are you saying you need more of my consequences, Miss Pope? Because I can handle giving you some, if need be." He was getting hard again, just talking to her.

The moisture flooded her southern region as his threat floated through the car. She needed to calm down. She was at her parent's house and Munchkin could not go in there all worked up. He needed to hang up the damn phone and stop doing this to her. She missed him. "Just you wait until I get home, Mister. I'm going to do such dirty things to you."

"Looking forward to it, babe. Be safe and take care of my girl. See you soon." He promised.

"Bye." What the hell, she thought. "Babe." They were already that couple. That annoying cutsie couple who made everyone around them want to vomit from their happiness. Were they a couple? Was this just a fling? A good time for now? Olivia was surprised to discover that her heart hoped it wasn't. She had a lot to learn about him, but the fact that she was looking forward to learning those things made her smile. Abby's words came back to her again. 'You might be done looking for a while.' She would have to think about that when she had the time. She turned off her car, grabbed her purse, and stepped out.

Walking into her parent's house was always a comforting feeling to Olivia. It always smelled like the flowers from her momma's yard, and baking yeast bread. She set her purse down on the small table beside the door and creeped into the kitchen. Her parents were side by side with their backs to her, washing dishes. They bumped hips with each other intentionally and giggled. They were so endearing to watch. Theirs was the kind of relationship Olivia aimed for, but had never found. They were still blissfully in love with each other, even after thirty-seven years. Olivia leaned on the doorway and sighed quietly.

After watching for a few minutes, Olivia cleared her throat loudly and dramatically. "Are we having dinner? Or should I leave so you two can tear each other up like wolves?"

Her dad continued to stare at his wife and said, "I'm liking the sound of the wolf thing." He wiggled his eyebrows up and down.

Olivia's mom laughed and slapped his chest. "Later, Nathaniel. And that's a promise. But for now, our baby is home." She went to Olivia and hugged her tight.

Olivia looked at her father over her mom's shoulder and said, "Ewww I don't want to hear about y'alls sex life." Her dad grinned at her as her mom kept holding tight.

Olivia's mother chuckled lightly and said, "If you would find a man to settle down with you might feel differently about wolves, baby."

Olivia loved her parents like most women do. The difference between their relationship and other women of Olivia's age and their parents was that the three of them had a very open line of communication. They could literally talk about anything at all. And usually did. From politics, to sex, or work, or anything in between. It got discussed as openly and comfortably as when Olivia talked to Abby and Yvonne. She treasured that about their relationship because they had a lot more insight and wisdom on those topics.

She pulled from her mother's embrace, smirked at her, and said, "Maybe I already have."

Olivia waked over to the oven with her parents following close behind her. She opened the oven and pulled out the sheet pan containing the warm rolls. Her mother always made twelve rolls, so they could each have two and Olivia could take the rest home. There were two missing. She pinned her dad with her raised eyebrows. "Really? Did you think I wouldn't notice?"

"There are still ten left, Munchkin. That's enough for dinner and leftovers for you to take home." He pecked her cheek. "Now, what's this business about you finding a man? Are you going to tell us about him?" He waited a beat and then firmly said, "I'll answer that...yes you are."

Olivia hugged her dad and pinched his cheeks when she pulled out of his arms. He was her number one fan and she adored him. "I have met someone. It's really new so I don't know everything about him. But I can tell you what I do know."

"Is it serious, Munchkin?" Her dad had a sad expression on his face as he asked the question and Olivia knew what he was probably thinking.

"I think it could be, eventually. But you'll always be my favorite, because you were the first man who ever loved me." He smiled and seemed relieved at that sentiment.

Olivia's mother watched the sappy exchange between them and felt her heart swell. "Nathaniel, if you will grab the rolls from the oven, we can sit down to eat dinner. And don't you eat another one before you get back to the table, or there will be no wolf lovin' later. I mean it, Mister." Olivia decided she was never going to call Fitz, Mister ever again. She would get used to calling him Babe somehow.

The three of them ate dinner and she told them all about how she had met Fitz at the dry cleaners. How he had figured out who she was and sent the tickets and flowers to her office. How she surprised him at his bakery. She told them about their date, and how she had met his mother at the hospital. All of the details were covered, minus the sex right before she arrived at their house. She could have told them, but she wanted to savor the newness of it to herself a while longer. Maybe next week she would tell them. Olivia told them that she was seeing him after she got back home from dinner, which wasn't a lie.

Her mother touched her own chest and said, "That's terribly romantic. And seeing how you haven't stopped smiling all through your story, I'd say you are starting to have feelings for this man. You should have brought him to dinner with you. We would have loved to have met him."

"I actually thought about bringing him with me, but I didn't really want to overwhelm the guy with the stress of meeting the parents so soon. And I'm trying to think about this rationally. Like a lawyer. I've only known him for a few days. Granted, the things that I do know about him are all likeable. He makes me smile and we've already planned our next date. But it's a little too soon to be talking about having feelings for a man I've known less than a week. Don't you think?"

This is what Olivia wanted. It was the majority of the reason she had decided to come to dinner. She needed her parents advice. Their level headed thinking and wisdom about all things Fitz. She wanted to know what they thought.

Her dad took her hand from across the table and gave her a kind smile. "Munchkin, we can't tell you how to feel. And we can't tell you if he's in it for a long term relationship. I know that's not what you want to hear, but it's the truth. Only you can know those things." He gave her hand a squeeze and let it go. "And relationships are a learning process. Sometimes they work out and sometimes they don't. But you always learn something about yourself, and what you don't want.

"Your mother and I met thirty-nine years ago on a beautiful Thursday afternoon." He glanced at his wife with a reminiscent smile. "We were together everyday afterward, and got married three months later. It turned out to be the best decision I ever made. But before I met her I dated several women and learned some things about myself in the process. It all made me a better man, both for myself and for your mother. And eventually for you. Do yourself a favor, and take the lawyer in you out of the equation."

Olivia sighed. She loved hearing that story, which usually contained greater details. The shortened version seemed appropriate for this occasion though. "Daddy, you are such a helpless romantic. It's one of the things I love most about you. I just don't want to get hurt and I don't want to hurt him. He does mean something to me. I just don't know exactly what that is right now."

Olivia's mother was not one to pull punches when it came to her baby. "One question, Olivia. How's the sex?"

She smiled so wide, Olivia thought her face would break, but said nothing.

"If it's that good, why are you here? You should have cancelled dinner with us and invited him over to your house for some more...smiles. Besides, we can't tell you what to do or who to love. You are an intelligent, independent, capable woman, with a heart full of love to give whoever you deem worthy of it. Sometimes you have to jump into the deep end of the pool to see if you can swim, baby. And if you can't swim, you'll see who is there to help you out."

Olivia giggled at her mother and jumped out of her chair. She hugged her mom excitedly while she sat in her seat. "You always give the best advice, momma."

Nathaniel scrunched up his face in mock confusion. "What about me?"

Olivia walked the few steps to her dad's seat at the table. "I wouldn't be who I am without you, Daddy. You know you're my favorite." She winked at her mother from her dad's shoulder. "You can have the rest of the rolls this week. I'm going to go home."

Olivia picked up her plate from the table and slid it into the dishwasher for cleaning. "I'll be back next week. Try to get the wolf thing out of your system by then." She picked up her purse and walked out the door, hearing her parents laughter as she went.

She climbed into her car and drove off with a smile on her face. She felt completely at peace, finally. She didn't know what was going to happen between her and Fitz. She didn't know if it would last a week or a month or forever. She was done second guessing it. It didn't matter that she had only known him for a few days. They had been the happiest, most exciting, and playful days she'd ever had. She was going to take it day by day and enjoy whatever each day brought them.

She was going to take her mother's advice and just jump in to whatever this thing with Fitz was. If it didn't work out, she would at least know that fear didn't hang over her head like a dark cloud. If she was honest with herself though, she felt like this relationship had staying power. It had all the elements of  
something she could see herself fighting for and enjoying for a long time. She couldn't wait to get home. To get to him.

As she maneuvered her car closer to home, her smile got bigger. It was nearing nine o'clock and she wondered what he was doing. Was he snooping through her underwear drawer? Was he eating dinner? Was he sleeping like a baby in her bed? She hoped it was the latter. She wanted to wake him up in a fun sexy way.

She pulled up in front of her house and saw that all the lights were off, except for the porch light. Maybe the old man had taken a nap after all.? She opened the front door quietly and put her purse down on the table. She tiptoed through the dark living room toward her bedroom. The light from the cracked bathroom door was enough for her to see. There on her bed, he was sprawled out and fast asleep on his belly wearing nothing but his boxer briefs. His hair was still damp, probably from a recent shower and she reached down to touch the curls she loved so much trying not to wake him. He smelled like her soap and it made her smile. He felt comfortable enough in her house to take a shower and use her stuff. There wasn't a dark cloud in sight.

Olivia continued rubbing his hair and thought about how she would wake him up. A few ideas floated around in her mind. But before she had the chance to actually put one into motion, his hand snaked out fast and grabbed her waist. He pulled her close to his side and held her there. "Welcome back, babe. I missed you." He kissed her slowly, stirring the fire they had built to scorching earlier. "Do you want some more of the fantasy?"

Olivia poured herself into the heated kiss. Breathless, she pulled back and said looked into his eyes in the dim light. She replied with her heart. "I missed you too, babe. Enough with the fantasy. I'm ready for the real thing."


	10. Fitzgerald and the Girls

Fitz and the Girls

Monday mornings were the absolute worst. That feeling was intensified from the lack of sleep Olivia had gotten over the weekend she had spent with Fitz. After returning to her house from her parents on Sunday night, their time in her bed had quickly turned into the early hours of Monday morning with all sorts of energetic and creative sex. When she knew if she didn't get some sleep, that she would be the worst bitch at work the next day, she kissed him goodbye and watched him drive home. He hadn't brought any extra clothes with him but promised to spend the night with her soon.

She was pulling into the parking lot at the office, when she noticed Abby's car sitting in the spot beside hers. Nothing unusual about that. But Abby was sitting in her car. And she wasn't alone. Yvonne was sitting in the passenger seat. She knew exactly what they were up to, waiting for her like hawks waiting for prey. She gave them a huge grin, wiggled her eyebrows up and down repeatedly, and motioned with her head for them to go inside.

The three women walked in the front door and got on the elevator together with several other people. Abby started to ask Olivia a question about her weekend, but Olivia gave her head a slight shake. There was another partner on the elevator, and this conversation was inappropriate for the workplace. It was gonna happen, but not here. In an effort to appear business like, Yvonne rattled off what Olivia's morning consisted of. Olivia was impressed. Even if the woman had made half of it up, and Olivia hoped that she did, because she couldn't fathom being that busy today, it sounded official.

The elevator doors opened and people rushed out going in different directions. The three friends walked towards to coffeepot in unison, like an unspoken goal. Abby was the first to break the quiet. "Was all that shit really on Liv's schedule for today? We don't have time for all of that. Not on a Monday. Not in one day ever."

Yvonne grinned at Abby as she poured the piping hot brown liquid into her cup. "Nah. Only about half of it was real. I don't really do Mondays, so I try to keep her schedule light on the first day of the week."

"You don't really do any days," Olivia pointed out to her assistant, earning a laugh from them. "But I am exhausted today and I don't foresee much of that getting done today either. So thank you."

"Speaking of the weekend..." Abby started.

"No one said anything about the weekend, Abby," Olivia chuckled.

"And now you just did. So...How was yours Yvonne?" Abby asked

"Well, it was..." Yvonne began

"Yea, not now, Yvonne. How about yours, Liv?" With filled cups, the three women walked into Olivia's office and closed the door. They all sat down and waited for her story.

"Real subtle, Abby." Olivia chuckled. "My weekend was good. How about you, Abby. What did you..."

"Who cares? I'll tell you who. NO ONE." She gestured wildly at herself and Yvonne and continued. "We didn't get up at the butt crack of dawn, arrive to work early, sit in my car waiting, very impatiently I might add, to hear, 'my weekend was good'. So get over your newfound fear of public speaking and spill the dirt. All of the dirt. The dirtiest of dirt. We want to hear all of it."

Yvonne started a slow clap all by herself. Abby grinned at her and bowed deeply. "I have cleared the first thirty minutes of your morning just so we could hear the details. So start talking because time is a wasting."

"Time is a wasting?" Olivia scrunched up her face at Yvonne. "Did you spend the weekend in a bog in Louisiana?"

"No, but I also didn't spend the weekend in bed with Mr. Perfect either. I want details! Regular or Magnum? Missionary, or some super sexy position I haven't even heard of yet? What does his ass feel like in your hands? How many orgasms did you have? And last, but not least, please tell me that you didn't go to your parent's house yesterday, but rather stayed in bed with him-who-I-have-yet-to-meet?"

Olivia looked back and forth between Abby and Yvonne. These two crazies were her people. Her friends. She had planned on telling them everything. But she planned on dragging her ass about it to torture them a little bit too. It's what friends did. "Wow. That's a lot of quest..."

"Cut the shit, Liv. We were here when you got the tickets and flowers. We took you to get your nails done on Saturday to help keep the nerves at bay. We watched you get ready for your date. The least you could do is share your weekend with us. We've been there since the beginning and we are your best friends. Don't you think you owe us that much?" Abby was a master at guilt and she used it to her own benefit at every opportunity. It was one of the many qualities that made her a great lawyer.

"Time is a wasting, Liv." Yvonne repeated. "Take it from the top and leave nothing out! Did you get your kiss when he got there? An ass grab? Come on!"

Olivia rolled her eyes and took another sip of her hot coffee. "Fine. But if you combust on the spot, don't either one of you blame me. Fitz showed up at my house literally minutes after you two left. He looked so handsome and smelled even better. He brought me another huge arrangement of flowers. I could get used to that. And they are still alive, so that's something..."

"You suck at sharing your sex life, Liv." Abby whined. "We know he looked handsome. We saw what he was wear..." Yvonne shot her a look of pure panic, cleared her throat really loudly, and started getting up to leave the room.

Olivia noticed Abby's slip and Yvonne's ridiculous attempt to cover it up. And now she thought she was going to leave? Olivia beat Yvonne to the door and pointed her finger at the chair her co-worker had just vacated. "Sit. Now." She stepped in between the two women to prevent them from looking at each other while she grilled them. "How do you know what he was wearing, Abby? You and Yvonne were gone before he arrived."

Abby looked at her watch and tried to come up with an excuse. "I've got to meet with Christopher soon. I should go." She started to get up, but Olivia pinned her with a look. Abby shrunk back into her chair.

"I'll ask you again. How do you know what he was wearing, Abby?" She knew the answer, because she knew these two.

"Fine. We were sitting in the stairwell and had the door cracked." Abby craned her neck and grinned at Yvonne. "We watched his fine ass walk to your door behind the flowers. You saw flowers first. We saw ass first. I really think we got the better end of that deal." That got a giggle and a whispered 'hell yes' from Yvonne.

Of course they stayed. And stalked. Hell, they probably drooled too. Fair was fair she decided. "You got the view of suit ass Fitz. Bare ass Fitz is much more magnificent. Too bad you missed that." She smiled widely at them and felt things shift back into her favor. They gave her a sour expression. "Jealousy isn't pretty on you bitches. No more stalking my dates!" Olivia sat back down in her chair and took a deep breath.

"Anyway, we got into this seriously sexy town car, with a driver I might add, and things got pretty heavy immediately. The man has serious pre-game skills. By the time we got to the restaurant neither one of us wanted to eat. Or go see the play. We just wanted each other. But we ate dinner and talked some more. It was really nice. And then we got back into the car and things started getting heavy again..."

"I hate you so much right now..." Yvonne interrupted.

"And then we saw Hamilton. You two really need to go see it. It's fantastic!"

"Was it as fantastic as the sex that followed?" Abby asked.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but no sex followed the play." Olivia informed.

"Shut up!" Yvonne stated loudly.

"Are you freaking kidding me? Unbelievable! The way he looked. The way you looked. The sex was supposed to happen! What did you do to screw it up, Liv?" Abby was saying things she shouldn't, but it couldn't be helped.

Olivia laughed at their obvious frustration. She told them about the phone call Fitz had gotten from his mother. About his dad being in the hospital. About meeting his mother, Emma. And finally she told them about waking up in her own house, alone, the next afternoon.

"I need a shot of vodka." Abby stated. "This story gets better, right? Please tell me it gets better, Liv."

"Yea, I can't sit in here and waste any more brain cells on this boring ass story. I would actually rather be working right now. And that's saying a lot," Yvonne interjected.

"Fine. But if you leave now, you'll miss the good parts," Olivia threatened. "And he has really good parts."

She told them about the Sunday phone call between them and the mind blowing sex that ultimately followed. She told them about her decision to go to dinner at her parents house and leaving him alone at hers.

"Wait a minute! You're telling me you left that perfect man alone at your house? You should have called me to tag me in. I would have gladly come over and kept him entertained while you ate rolls with your dad." Yvonne was rubbing her temples. She was expecting this story to involve swinging from a chandelier or gags or something equally creative. Not Fitz alone for hours. Olivia was losing credibility points in Yvonne's mind.

Olivia sat a little straighter in her chair. She shrugged her shoulders at Abby and Yvonne. "I needed to see my parents. I talked to them about the situation with Fitz..."

"You told your parents that you are screwing him? Seriously?" Abby knew Olivia was close to her parents, but that was a little insane in Abby's mind. She was engaged to Stephen, but as far as her mother knew, Abby was still a virgin. "How did that go over?"

"They actually gave me some really good advice, Abby. Advice that I needed from them. Besides, I'm not going to change my entire routine for Fitz. It's not like we are married or anything. My parents were in my life first so they stay top importance." Olivia paused and smirked at them. "Besides, I left their house early and went back home to be with Fitz. It was amazing."

"That's my girl!" Abby loved that Olivia was close to her parents. She wished she had that same openness with her own parents. But it just wasn't possible because her mother wasn't willing to go all in with that type of relationship. She had Stephen now and he was everything to her.

"I'm so happy for you." Yvonne sighed.

Olivia clapped her hands once and pointed to the door. "Time to be productive. I've got a lot to do today and so do the two of you. Let's do this day!"

Once they were gone Olivia sent a text to Fitz.  
 _Good morning, handsome_

A minute later she got a reply from him.  
 _Morning, Babe. You at work?_

She shook her head and grinned.  
 _Of course. Why?_

Fitz grinned as he typed with lightening speed.  
 _So you found a wheelchair?_

Olivia re-read his message not understand it.  
 _What the hell are you talking about?_

She fell for it. Hook, line, and sinker. She'll learn, he thought to himself.  
 _The way I took care of business, you obviously can't walk at all today_

Olivia laughed so loud, she slapped her hand on her mouth and looked around to make sure no one had heard her outburst. This man and his jokes.  
 _It's not covered by my insurance. I've got a walker instead. It's really painful though._

Fitz chuckled at his funny little vixen. God, he missed her.  
 _Can I pick you up and take you to lunch today?_

There was that feeling bubbling up again, she thought. She smiled and let it bubble while reveling in the happy feeling. She was going to see Fitz earlier than expected.  
 _I'm looking forward to it, Babe_

His heart melted every time she called him that. Even only three hours of sleep couldn't steal the joy he felt by just texting her.  
 _I'll be at your office at 11:30. Stay off your feet. I need them wrapped around me soon._

 _Olivia missed him and his sexy humor._  
 _Yes, Sir_

Olivia put her phone on her desk and got busy. Yvonne walked in and out of her office several times, bringing her cases and files that Olivia requested. She made notations in each and added items to them that were of importance.

At 11:25 Olivia called Abby and Yvonne into her office, under the pretenses of asking for her help. She grabbed a random file from her desk and started flipping through it as she waited for them. Yvonne arrived first, sat down in one of her visitor chairs, and asked, "What's up?"

Olivia smiled at her and said, "I'd rather wait until Abby gets here so I can go over it just once, ok?" Olivia looked at her watch. The timing was going to be perfect. If Abby moved her ass. Payback is a bitch, Babe.

Just then Abby came through the door. She took the other visitor chair and opened a granola bar. "What do you need, Liv? This is a busy working through lunch kinda day, so let's make this quick if possible."

Olivia just smiled. She started talking about the case file in front of her, recalling facts that she had just read. She was killing time, but they didn't know that. Just then, mid sentence, there was a knock on Olivia's door. Olivia grinned on the inside, and she was pretty sure she heard an evil laugh in there too. Her face gave nothing away though.

The three women looked up simultaneously. And were met with the bluest eyes any of them had ever seen. Fitz smiled at Olivia from behind the glass door. And then he made eye contact with Abby. And his face froze. Gotcha, Olivia thought to herself.

Abby was grinning at him like a mad fool and happily motioned him to come in. Yvonne's jaw was on the floor, but her eyes were functioning just fine, thank you, as they slowly took inventory of the perfect specimen now standing in such close proximity. Olivia stood up as Fitz walked through her door and  
crossed to her. He kissed her cheek and whispered in her ear, "This is an interesting development." Pulling back, he said hello to the other two women.

"Hellll-o," Abby exaggerated. She smiled enthusiastically and stuck out her right hand to shake his. "We weren't formally introduced at your fabulous bakery the other day. I'm Abby." She held onto his hand a little longer than necessary, but she didn't care.

Still shaking her hand, Fitz put two and two together. Olivia had sent Abby to his bakery to scout things out. He didn't know why, but he liked her openness. She seemed to be the type of person who gave no pretenses. No bullshit. He appreciated that in a person. She would make a good ally. Fitz smiled at her and decided to try the same. "I'm Fitz. Nice to finally put a name with a stalking face." Abby laughed and dropped his hand.

"Liv, can we keep him?" Abby got a laugh from Fitz for that comment, while Olivia put her head in her hand. This was quickly backfiring.

He averted his gaze to the other woman in the room. She looked star stuck, like she had just met her favorite actor. He smiled at her and she started sliding down the chair she was sitting in, like a melted popsicle. He grabbed her elbow to help her up and that made things worse. She made a noise he didn't think was human. Fitz looked at Olivia for help, but she just shrugged her shoulders, enjoying the show.

Fitz kneeled down in front of the melted woman and asked, "Are you ok, Miss?"

Yvonne's head snapped up to his concerned eyes. "Did you just call me Miss?"

Fitz looked from Olivia to Abby needing to know if this woman was alright or had a medical condition. "I'm sorry. Did I say something wrong? I just wanted to help you up. Can I do that?"

Yvonne was staring intently into his eyes, forgetting everything she ever knew in life. She was surprised when words came out of her mouth. "You can do anything you want to me. Hell, I'll even pay you." When Fitz chuckled at her, she started melting again. "You have a great laugh. Can you just stay here all day and laugh for me?"

Fitz was enchanted by her. She made him feel like someone famous, which was probably not good for his already too big ego. But he didn't care about that right now. He helped her stand up and held out his hand. "I'm Fitz. And you make me want to do just that somehow." He kissed her hand and grinned at her.

Yvonne grinned back and said, "I'm Yvonne. It really is nice to finally meet you. I've heard some interesting things about you." Her eyes went back to roaming his body and he laughed again. "We like him and we're definitely keeping him!" She stated firmly to Olivia.

Olivia knew she had just made things worse for herself at work. This was supposed to be her way of showing Fitz how she knew the red headed crazy stalker girl he had mentioned the other day. Instead, she could tell from his face, that he had become smitten with her co-workers. Now they were going to take his side if she ever had a reason to whine about him. She grabbed her purse and phone and waited for him to notice that she was ready.

Fitz had just won a major battle. Olivia's friends liked him. Once a woman's friends liked the man, the rest was fun and games. Well, until PMS showed it's ugly head. Or the man did or said something stupid. But still...

He noticed Olivia was ready to go, so he turned to Abby and Yvonne and said, "I'd very much like to take all three of you to lunch next time. My treat of course." He put his arm around Olivia and held the door open for her. "Have a wonderful day ladies." He winked at them and he and Olivia walked away.

A short while later, Olivia and Fitz were sitting across each other in a booth at a mostly empty diner. Olivia immediately grabbed the large plastic menu and held it up, pretending to look at it. Fitz knew she was regrouping and chuckled at her. "Would you like for me to stay here and laugh for you all day too?" He asked sarcastically.

"No one likes a smart ass." She put the menu down on the table and smiled at him. "That didn't work out quite the way I planned."

"So you admit that it was planned, Miss Pope?" Fitz smirked at her. "You thought what? That the sight of your friend Abby, my crazy crotch staring stalker would bring about embarrassment for one or both of us? You underestimate me, babe. I can roll with the best of surprises. Apparently so can Abby. And now that they have met me, they want to keep me. Do you want to keep me too?"

Olivia smiled at the complete wonder of him. "That's actually part of what I wanted to talk to you about over lunch."

She watched in confusion as he got up from his seat and reached out his hand to her. She took it without question, but didn't understand his intentions until he pulled her into his arms and said, "We can talk in a minute. I've missed you today. And I need a kiss or two, Miss Pope." She felt good in his arms as he poured himself into the smoldering kiss. Those perfect tiny hands were once again in his hair and everything was right in the world again. He rested his forehead on hers and said, "Hi."

Olivia sighed contentedly. This was her happy place. In his arms, just like this. She opened her eyes, pecked his lips once more, and said, "Hi" back at him. "I've missed you too, Mist...I mean Babe."

Fitz noticed her change in nickname and decided to bring it up another time. They sat back down in their seats and ordered food. Fitz held her hand across the table as the conversation started. "You mentioned you wanted to talk about keeping me?"

"Yes. But first I want to explain some things to you. I went to my parents house last night because it's something I have always done and I didn't want to change that. I know it was bad timing for our first night together to be on the same one where I left you for a few hours to see them. But I needed to talk to them. I needed their advice about you." She watched his expression for changes, but got nothing. He was still smiling at her.

"Never apologize for loving your family and wanting to spend time with them. Family is important and family comes first. I mean, I ditched sex with you on our first date for my family. That's a non issue for us. Family is a priority and always will be."

Olivia was so deeply touched by the simplicity of his statement. It removed any niggling fear that he might not understand how she felt or where she was coming from. And it made her resolve to share the rest of it so much stronger. "You don't know how much it means to me to hear you say that. It's very comforting to know you feel the same way about your family."

"What else, concerning me, did you talk to them about?" He asked openly.

"I have been really struggling with an inner battle that will most definitely sound crazy to you, but I want to tell you about it anyway." She felt shyness start to come to the surface and battled it down. She  
wanted to get this out. She needed to find out if he felt the same way or if it would end things. Or if he would just think she had lost her mind and was easy.

Fitz rubbed little circles on her hand with his as a way to encourage her to keep talking. To get it all said. He knew there was much more and he wanted to hear it. "Tell me. I really want to know."

She took a sip of her water and let it all out. "I have only known you for a few days. And somehow it feels like I've known you for years. In those few days I have been the happiest I've been in a really long time. I feel very close to you. I miss you when you aren't around. I think about you constantly. I have feelings for you. Really strong feelings for you. And my mind is telling me it's way too soon to feel like this. And my heart is telling my mind to shut up. That this is real. And that I'm not the only one feeling this way. That you feel it too. And that scares the hell out of me, because if you can do this to my heart in a few days, what will happen if we are still together in a month? Or a year? I don't know if I can contain it if this feeling gets any bigger." Olivia had to stop and take another sip of her water. She was on the verge of tears, but this too had to be said to him. "The other side of these feelings is, what happens to my heart if things don't work out between us?"

Fitz got up and sat beside her in the booth. He put his arm around her and gathered her close to him. She was so tiny, but held such big emotions. He was thankful that she felt comfortable enough to share those emotions with him. Her feelings as well as her fears. They were mirrors of what he had been feeling every day since he had met her. It was time for him to do some talking now. But first, he put his index finger under her chin and lifted her face to his. He kissed her, soft as a whisper and wiped her tear with his thumb afterward. She meant the world to him already, somehow. Just as he apparently did to her.

"From the first moment I met you, even through our flirting, I knew there was something magical here. I couldn't explain it to anyone in a way that made any kind of sense. And believe me, I tried. My first call was to my mother, believe it or not. She's a romantic at heart, but I'm sure you didn't get that vibe from her at the hospital. She said, 'Follow your heart. Your mind will catch up sooner or later. There's no time table on love. It happens slowly over time for some and for others it hits you over the head.'

"So I took her advice and went for it. I feel the same way you do, Olivia. I miss you more than I should. It's very distracting at times. In a good way. I think about you every minute I'm awake. I want to hear your laugh all the time. And nothing makes me happier than feeling your fingers in my hair." At the look on her face, he smiled at her and continued. "I know that's a weird one, but it's true.

"You are the most important person in my life, outside of my family. And that scares me just as much as it does you. And I can make promises that this will last a lifetime, but I care about you too much to lie.  
So I won't. No one knows what the future holds. But I do know that I want as many days and nights with you as you will allow me to have. I want to talk to you everyday. I want to hear you laugh and be the reason that you smile. So, I'm not going to think about how it's only been a couple of days since I met you. Instead I'm going to be thankful that I did." He saw more tears falling from her eyes and patiently wiped them all away. "I don't like it when my girl cries."

"Then stop being so damn perfect." She blubbered.

Fitz smiled at her. He smiled a lot more since he had met her. "I'm not perfect. I'm just perfect for you. Just like you are perfect for me. No more worries about time. Let's just be happy and enjoy being together, whether it lasts a full week or a lifetime.


	11. Four O'clock Reality

Four O'clock Reality

Olivia left the office at exactly five o'clock. She was exhausted both mentally and physically. She just needed to catch up on some sleep. She was looking forward to a quiet night at home in her fuzzy pajamas with a glass or two of wine and an early bedtime. It sounded like pure bliss right now.

As she was unlocking her front door, her cell phone started ringing. After opening the door and setting her purse down, she answered the call from Fitz. "I'm sorry, I can't talk right now. I have my mystery stud over and he's about to take his pants off. I gotta go."

"And yet you answered the phone, Miss Pope. Maybe his name isn't the only mystery? There must not be much to get excited about if you're talking to me right now." Fitz waited for the expected sarcastic remark.

"You got me there." Olivia plainly said.

Fitz knew something wasn't quite right. Olivia always had a good comeback during a fun conversation with him. She sounded...defeated. And then he realized that it had to be exhaustion. Neither of them had gotten much sleep the night before. She had come back home from visiting her parents and the sex between the two of them had been very energetic and creative. He himself had only gotten three hours of sleep, after driving to his own house in the pre-dawn hour.

And then the two of them had gone to lunch where they had talked. And Olivia had cried, he recalled. Crying always wore a woman down and made them tired. Fitz bet she was running on fumes and was just looking forward to sleep. He himself actually wanted the same thing, but he had remembered tonight was supposed to be their bowling night. He doubted she remembered, and he certainly wasn't going to bring it up.

"Did you have a good day?" Fitz was trying for normalcy. It felt like a lame question, but he waited for an answer just the same.

"It took too long to get to the end of it. I'm so glad to be home right now." Olivia put the phone on speaker and walked toward her bedroom, talking to Fitz as she walked. She stepped out of her dress and pulled up her pj pants. "I missed you," she admitted. "I know I saw you at lunch, but still...I missed you for the rest of the day." She pulled an old t-shirt over her head and sat on the edge of her bed.

Her words were like music to his ears. They made him feel less like a goofball too. "I missed you too, Babe. My mind was on you all day. I wish I could see you tonight, but tomorrow will do."

"If I could see you right now I would give you the biggest kiss. I'll give you two tomorrow to make up for it." There was a knock on the door and Olivia picked up her phone and started walking towards it, asking Fitz to hold on while she answered it.

She opened the door and was too shocked for words when she saw Fitz standing there. He picked her up in his arms, shut the door behind him and walked into her house. Olivia wrapped her arms around him and gave Fitz a smile. When Fitz got to her couch, he sat down with her on his lap and said, "I couldn't wait until tomorrow. Where's my ki..."

Olivia grabbed two handfuls of his curls and pulled his face to hers for a heated kiss. Their tongues were just as excited about being back together as the two humans that were attached to them. Fitz pulled her to a straddling position on his lap and his hands went immediately to her ass. She pulled back from the sizzling kiss and rested her head on his shoulder.

Fitz held her tight and close to his chest, rubbing little circles on her back. He could feel the exhaustion in her little body. If he kept rubbing her back, she probably would fall asleep right there on his lap. He suddenly had an idea. He whispered it in her ear. "I'm going to start a bath and you can sit in there for as long as you want. When you get out, I'll order pizza for dinner and then you can go to bed. What do you think?"

"I think that sounds almost perfect." she said, pecking his lips quickly.

"Almost?" He asked surprised.

Olivia smiled at him. "The only thing that would make it absolutely perfect is if you stayed with me tonight."

Fitz smiled back at her. He absolutely adored this woman. He picked her up, threw her over his shoulder like a bag of potatoes, and started walking to the door. Olivia was laughing, shrieking, and swatting his ass with both hands, asking where he was taking her. He opened her door, stepped out on the porch, and picked up the overnight bag he left there when he arrived.

Olivia saw the bag in Fitz's hand from over his shoulder and grinned. He was going to stay with her tonight. And he had planned to the entire time. He was going to fill the tub and let her soak in it as long as she wanted to AND take care of dinner. He was kinda perfect. And all hers. She wondered if he was a snuggler. Well, he was gonna be one tonight, she thought with a smile.

Fitz put his bag down and smacked her ass once before plopping down on the couch with her sitting sideways on his lap again. She curled into his chest as his arms wrapped around her. They didn't need food, she told herself. They didn't even need a bed. Just this. This felt so good and normal to her. Like this is how they always ended their days. She could get used to this. She sighed happily and closed her eyes.

Fitz was perfectly content. He had his girl on his lap. And she was happy as a clam, judging from that sigh she let out. He felt just as happy as she did. Exhausted Olivia just needed a bath, some food, maybe a movie, and then bed. He couldn't wait to hold her close as they slept. She was going to have to like that, or they were going to have a serious talk. If she thought she was going to have her own space as she slept, well, that was too damn bad. He looked into her beautiful brown eyes and said, "Miss Pope, you wound me with your assumptions. One day you will learn that almost doesn't cut it. I aim to please and I believe that I do." He grinned at her wickedly.

Her body automatically reacted to his words and voice. She wanted him and wasn't surprised by that. But she simply couldn't summon the strength to act on it. Fitz kissed her on the forehead and set her beside him on the sofa. A few minutes later, Olivia could hear the sound of water running into the tub. She just had to make it to the bathroom.

"Go get in the tub, Miss Pope." He kissed her nose. "I'll take a quick shower when you get out."

She begrudgingly stood up and walked into her bedroom. She picked up a cami and panties from her dresser and walked into the bathroom, grabbing a towel on her way to the tub. She stripped out of her clothes and slid into the bubbles. The hot water felt so good on her skin. Her muscles loosened up and she laid her head on the back edge of the tub and relaxed completely. A bath did wonders for a tired body. She started humming as she soaked away the bone deep exhaustion. Fitz would be lucky if he got a shower by seven. She was staying in here for a while.

After ordering the pizza, Fitz sat down on the couch to relax. He heard Olivia humming something he couldn't quite place, but he liked the sound of it. He laid his head back, closed his eyes, and enjoyed listening to relaxed Olivia. He smiled groggily.

"Fitz? Babe?" Who was talking to him? Now someone was shaking him. Fitz wished she would stop talking and leave him alone. He grunted and rolled over on his side, facing away from whoever she was, in hopes she would be quiet. "Baaaaaabe" Of course that didn't work.

He faintly heard the female voice say, "Fine. If you want to sleep, I'm eating all of the pizza." He fought hard to come to the surface from sleep. He blinked his eyes several times. Where the hell was he? He smelled pizza and realized he was starving. He rolled over and saw Olivia sitting on the floor in front of the couch he was laying on. And she was eating pizza. After a few more moments of clarity and he remembered he had ordered pizza, while she was in the tub. He must have fallen asleep waiting for it to be delivered.

"Don't even think about it." He kissed the top of her head and reached over her shoulder for a piece out of the cardboard box in front of her. She looked better, less tired, than before she went in the tub and he was glad for it. Exhausted Olivia needed a hot bath. He'd log that away for next time. He was starting to accumulate quite a few things in his memory about her. Little things she liked or needed. Fitz found that oddly comforting. He was learning what made his girl tick.

They ate in silence until the whole thing was gone. Olivia got up and put the empty box in the trash can. She brought back two glasses of wine and handed one to Fitz. He made a face at the red liquid, but took a sip. It wasn't terrible, but definitely not his drink of choice. Fitz stood up, grabbed his bag, and told her he was going to take a quick shower.

Fifteen minutes later he walked back in the living room wearing only a pair of jogging pants. He felt human again and had enough energy in him for a movie, if Olivia wanted to watch one. He walked back to the couch and found her fast asleep on it. He squatted beside her and pushed a stray hair behind her ear. Her face scrunched up for a moment and then she was peaceful and motionless again. Fitz smiled at her and watched her sleep for a few moments. She was even beautiful when she slept. His girl was beautiful all the time.

He stood up, took their glasses into the kitchen, and placed them in the sink. He locked her front door and turned off the inside lights. Fitz walked into her bedroom and pulled the comforter back. He went back to the sofa and picked Olivia up from it. He carried her into her room and put her on the bed. He crawled into bed beside her and pulled the blanket up over both of them. Olivia turned on her side and that suited him just perfectly. He spooned her from behind and wrapped his arms around her tightly. Olivia sighed in her sleep and that was the last thing Fitz heard as he happily drifted off to sleep.

Sometime around four am Olivia suddenly woke up. She felt a heaviness across her mid section and legs. She rolled on her back and turned her head and saw Fitz draped over her body. His left arm was across her belly and his leg was across both of hers. She smiled in the darkness of her room. She wished for a little light so she could see what he looked like. She reached over to lightly play with his hair. Those damn curls had some kind of power over her. Olivia couldn't resist touching them all the time.

As she lay there, Olivia thought about the day that would start in a few hours. She thought about what she had to do at work. She had a big court case coming up and a few more that she needed to prep for. Today was Monday, so that meant date night for her and Fitz. She couldn't wait to go bowling with him. She was going to kick his ass.

A sinking feeling suddenly came over her. She quickly sat up in bed.

It was Tuesday, not Monday. She had missed date night altogether. She had been so wiped out that she had completely forgotten about it. She looked over at Fitz, who was still sleeping peacefully. She wondered if he had remembered? Olivia thought back to everything he had done for her when she had gotten home from work. He had taken care of her. Had taken care of everything.

She had plans to have dinner with Cyrus and James tonight after work. She wondered if Fitz would like to go with her. It was a work thing, but it was a casual work thing. She knew neither Cyrus or James would mind if she brought Fitz along. She made a mental note to call Cyrus from work and ask him just to be sure. She wanted to know what Cyrus thought of her guy anyway. His opinion mattered to her and she wanted Cyrus to meet Fitz sooner or later. She laid back down and settled into his arms laying her head on his chest.

Olivia lightly ran her fingers over his chest, and felt him flinch in his sleep. This wonderful man had thought of everything a few hours ago. A bath, dinner, and putting her into bed. She wanted to show her appreciation for his thoughtfulness. No time like the present, she mused. She put her knees on either side of his hips, so she was straddling him, and replaced her fingers with her lips and kissed his chest. He wasn't waking up, so she kicked it up a notch. Olivia dipped her head into his neck and ran her tongue down the column of it. She alternated kisses and licks across his chest. No noise from Fitz. He must be a deep sleeper.

She slid her body down his and happily discovered he was hard. She pulled his sweat pants off of his body, threw them over her shoulder, and settled herself between his legs. She wrapped her fingers around the base of him and started stroking him up and down as she ran her tongue slowly down his happy trail and...nothing. He must have been really be tired, she thought.

Olivia got up on her knees and took him into her mouth. A quick moment later, Fitz started moving his hips and groaned lightly. He was coming around, she thought as her mouth continued to work over his hard length. She picked up the pace some, enjoying herself enjoying him.

Fitz was trying so hard to hold it together. He had been awake ever since she sat up in bed. He almost said something to her a few times, but waited to see if she would fall back asleep. Apparently she had other plans and was feeling well rested. She was making it really difficult for him to remain quiet and "asleep" with the things her mouth was currently doing to him. At this rate, he wasn't going to last much longer, and this was not how he wanted it to end.

A wicked idea came into his mind and he almost laughed at the thought of it. But he knew it was a guaranteed way of making her stop without giving away that he was fully awake and fully enjoying the hell out of what she was doing. He moaned in his sleep, put his hand on her head, and groggily said, "Mmmmm, Danielle. Don't stop." Like the answer to an unasked prayer, Olivia ceased movement on his southern region.

Did she hear him right? Did he just call out another woman's name? Oh hell no! Olivia was going to get to the bottom on this nonsense. She unceremoniously dropped him out of her mouth and batted his hand away from her. She got up off her bed and turned on the bedroom light. She straddled him and sat on his chest. He still had his eyes closed and looked completely at peace. That was about to end right now! "Fitz." Nothing. She called his name much louder than necessary. "Fitzgerald!" She watched as his eyes opened to slits. She immediately began her rant. "Who in the hell is Dan..."

Olivia blinked her eyes and found herself on her back, with Fitz pinning her to the bed. He had a huge grin on his face and tried to kiss her. Olivia wasn't having it and turned her head away from him. Fitz chuckled at her as she tried to buck him off of her. She was pissed and wasn't in the mood to play games with him. "Who in the hell is Danielle?"

Fitz kept grinning at her while pinning her hands to her side. Mostly so she wouldn't hit him. How is it that she was even beautiful when she was pissed off? He was so thankful that he had met her in the dry cleaners that day. He was already in love with her. All of her. Her mad side, her tired side, her happy side. All sides of Olivia made her who she was as a whole person and he wouldn't trade any of those sides for anything. She was about to be turned on Olivia, she just didn't know it yet.

"Good question. Who is she?" He laughed and then leaned down to kiss her, but again she avoided it by turning her head. Fitz brought both of her tiny hands up over her head and held them there with one of  
his huge hands. He put his finger under her chin and directed her face back to his, still smiling at her. "Do you want an explanation? Or do you want to stay pissed off? Because you can't have both, Miss Pope. Decide."

Olivia wanted a lot of things from him. She wanted to know who Danielle was. And she wanted to kick his ass for calling her name out at the wrong time. And then she wanted him to apologize profusely. Explanation? Or stay mad? Her curiosity got the better of her so she said, "Fine. Explain. And it had better be good too!" Besides, she could always stay pissed off if she wanted to. He couldn't control her emotions.

"Good choice. But first, I'm going to need a kiss." Olivia looked at him like he had grown two heads. Fitz was enjoying this so much. She was certainly still going to be mad after he explained it to her. He hoped she would pour that anger into the sex he was going to convince her to have with him afterwards. "You woke me up in the middle of the night screaming at me. I think that justifies a kiss. Don't you?"

"You're not getting a kiss, Fitz. I woke you up in the middle of the night because you called out another woman's name as I was..."

"Quiet!" He commanded. "I have been awake ever since you sat up in bed like a crazy person and started worrying about god-knows-what at four in the morning when you should have been sleeping. He leaned down and kissed her neck gently. "When you started in my neck, I thought I was going to lose my mind." He released her hands and pulled the bottom of her shirt up and off her body. "When you started kissing my chest, I got the tingles everywhere." He slid down her body as she had done to him and pulled her pj pants off of her. "When you started licking and sucking me, I knew I wasn't going to be able to hold on very long. But it felt so good. It was the very best way to be woken up. But I desperately needed to be inside of you."

He opened her legs wide, dipped his head, and gave her center a long slow lick with the tip of his tongue. Olivia moaned loudly. Her question almost forgotten. But then she remembered it. He wasn't going to get out of answering it with sex. But before she could ask him again, he slid up her body started speaking again. "There is no Danielle. There never has been. I made up a name as the only way I could think of to get you off of me so I could have you the way I wanted you. Just like this. On your back. Open for me to fill you up." As soon as the words left his mouth, he thrust his hips and did just that.

Olivia screamed from the pleasure of it. Fitz held still for a moment and just watched her face. "Are you still mad at me?" He couldn't keep the grin off his face as he said it.

He is ridiculous she thought to herself. Truth was, it was a good plan and it had worked perfectly. But she was never going to tell him that. She put her hands on his back and dragged her fingernails down the length of it, settling both hands on his hips. "If you don't start moving these, I will be." Those must have been the magic words, because Fitz became a man possessed. He slammed into her repeatedly at an insane pace. The feeling was indescribable and she climaxed twice as he continued his wild mission.

Olivia was well on her way to her third orgasm when Fitz pulled out of her. She didn't have time to complain or argue as he grabbed her tiny waist and flipped her over. "Hands and knees" was all he said and she was quick to comply. She waited for him to continue the same pace he had already set, but instead Fitz entered her slowly. Inch by inch he sunk into her wetness until he was at the hilt. And then, just as slowly, he pulled back from her. Olivia arched her back and moaned at the new slower pace. "Babe, please..." She begged.

Fitz was lost in the amazing feeling of her. His head was thrown back in pure enjoyment. He wanted to stay in bed with her and do this for the rest of the day. He sat back on his heels and brought her with him. She turned her face to the side and kissed him passionately as he reached around and massaged her breasts. Fitz broke the kiss and sucked air into his lungs as Olivia rose and fell from his lap, slowly at first. She could feel her body building up toward the next orgasm and picked up the pace going faster and faster until they exploded together with loud grunts and profanities.

They both flopped down on the bed to catch their breaths. Fitz wrapped his arm around her and she settled into the crook of his arm with her head on his chest. A few minutes later she picked up her head, scooted closer, and kissed him. "Good morning, Mist...Babe," she corrected.

Fitz kissed her nose and asked, "Why have you stopped calling me 'Mister'? I noticed it yesterday too. I kind of liked that nickname."

"My parents ruined it for me when I was at their house. They were being all flirty with each other, as they usually are. But then my mother called my father Mister, and that killed it for me." She groaned. "I'm sorry, but I can never call you that again. It would be too weird."

Fitz laughed until his belly hurt. Olivia eventually had joined in on the laughter too. He held her closer to his side and said, "Now that I know the story, it would be weird for me too." He kissed her again and took his time doing so. He was ready for another round with her, but first said, "Good morning to you."

He tried to put her under him again by rolling on top of her, but Olivia was faster. She rolled with him until she was sitting on top of him. She lifted herself up and guided his long hard length inside of her.  
"This is going to be fast because we both have to get ready for work." She started quickly moving up and down, bringing moans and heavy breathing from him.

He reached up and put one hand behind her as she arched her back. The other hand started rubbing circles on her bundle of nerves below. She was chanting his name over and over and begging him not to stop until she screamed his name and collapsed on top of his chest. Fitz, however, wasn't done yet. He rolled them over again and she was back underneath him. Olivia held onto his shoulders and wrapped her little legs around his waist as he thrust into her several times. He collapsed on top of her, breathing heavily and kissing her neck.

A few minutes later, breathing under control, Fitz got up and headed for the shower. While he was in there Olivia started coffee for both of them and picked her outfit and shoes for work. When he stepped out in a towel, she licked her lips and watched the water run down his chest. "Do you see something you like, Miss Pope?"

She ignored him and started brushing her teeth. Fitz walked to the mirror and shaved his face. When both were done she jumped in the shower while he put on his jeans and brushed his teeth. Olivia got out of the shower wrapped up in a towel and watched him have a similar reaction to her wet body. "Do you see something you like, Mr. Grant?"

Fitz didn't care if the bakery burned to the ground. All he cared about was the perfect mocha skin she had exposed and the rest of it that she had covered up. He wanted round three in the worst way. He grabbed for the edge of her towel but she side stepped out of his reach with a giggle.

When they were both dressed for the day, with coffee in hand, they walked out the front door together holding hands. Fitz walked Olivia to her car, opened the door, and kissed her goodbye. "Have a good day at the bakery. Keep those buns sticky."

"It's started off the best way possible.! And I have a meeting with Danielle later this afternoon." Fitz laughed at the face she made and watched her drive away.


	12. Poker Night

Poker Night

Tuesday afternoon wound down on a high note for Olivia. It had been much more productive than the day before. She had finalized notes on several cases, was assigned court dates for others, and picked up the file on adoption to take to dinner with Cyrus and James. Her day in court for the Salinger case had ended exactly as she had expected it to. A great day over all. Busy, but great. Being so busy she didn't get a chance to ask Fitz if he wanted to join her for dinner at her friend's house.

As she walked towards her car, in the summer sun, she dialed his cell. A few rings later, Fitz answered the phone. "Hi beautiful. How was your day?"

"Hi handsome. My day was fantastic." She unlocked her car door, settled herself in her seat, and turned on the air conditioning.

"Yea? How was court? Did you kick ass?" He could picture her happy face and the thought alone brought a smile to his face as well.

"Naturally. How has your day been?" Olivia hoped he had had a good day too.

"It's been good. I went to visit my parents earlier. My dad looked relived when I walked in the house. I think I'm going to go spring him free for a while tomorrow. It'll do him some good to get out of the house." Fitz put the chocolate chip cookies he had made on a plate as he talked to Olivia on the phone. He had decorated them to look like poker chips. His friends didn't care what they looked like, but Fitz liked to keep it fun. "Do you have any plans tonight?"

Olivia smiled. It was like he read her mind. "Actually, that's why I'm calling. My friend Cyrus and his husband James are interested in adoption. I have been gathering information for them at work, and the other day he asked me to come over for dinner to discuss everything. I wanted to invite you to come along."

"Oh." Was all Fitz said.

"Oh? Is that a yes or no?" Olivia asked.

"I would love to come with you to dinner at your friend's house. But tonight is poker night with the guys. It's a monthly tradition. I'm sorry, but I can't go." He hoped she wouldn't be upset.

"Oh. I didn't know you had a poker night? You never mentioned it before." Olivia started her car and began driving home.

"I didn't mention it before because I didn't know you last month." Fitz chuckled. When he was met with uncomfortable silence on the phone he started explaining. "The four of us have been friends since high school, but we don't see each other as often as we would like to so we came up with poker night a few years ago as a way to stay in touch. We've only missed meeting up a handful of times since we started playing. I'm all for us getting together because they are bad at it, so I end up with their spare money. We usually play here at the bakery because they are too lazy to bring snacks."

"That sounds fun. I think it's great that the four of you still get together. Do I get to meet your friends sometime? I mean, I showed you mine. You should show me yours. It's only fair." She giggled.

Fitz's voice dropped an octave. His sexy baritone voice was filled with lust when he spoke. "I love it when you show me yours, Miss Pope. Maybe you can do that sometime this week?"

"That depends." She flirted.

"Depends on what exactly?" He asked. "Whatever it is, the answer is yes."

Olivia was grinning in her car. Her man needed to work on his playing-hard-to-get game. But on the other hand, it was nice to have someone put her so high on his priority list. "It depends if I can meet your friends."

Her wants were so simple, Fitz thought. He wondered again how he had gotten such a beautiful and simple woman. However, when Fitz recalled her vast shoe collection, he remembered she was definitely more than simplistic. "Would you like to drop by after you finish dinner? I could be swayed to unlock the door for a kiss."

"That's all it takes? I'll definitely see you later on tonight. I'll call you when I'm headed your way. Have fun, Babe." Olivia listened to Fitz tell her goodbye and continued home.

It was finally time. Fitz watched the last customer walk out the door and happily locked it behind them, and then flipped the sign to read closed. He turned out all but one light inside the bakery and walked into the back room to finish setting everything up.

He grabbed a round table from the corner of the room, pulled out the four legs, and stood it up. He put the cookies out, along with a bowl of chips and pretzels. These men were simple creatures on poker night. Give them snacks, alcohol, and a fistful of cards, and they would be fine. He liked providing the basics for them. He looked at his watch and knew they would start showing up soon. Fitz grabbed four chairs and set them around the table. As he pulled out the deck of cards there was a knock on the door. The first victim had arrived.

Fitz rubbed his hands together gleefully and unlocked the door. "Hey Charlie." The two men shook hands and Fitz locked the door behind his friend. "How did you escape the wife tonight?"

With a straight face Charlie replied, "I told Quinn that I was going out for a while and not to wait up. I told her I'd be home when I felt like it."

Fitz burst out laughing at his newly married friend. He remembered the first time he met Quinn, while she and Charlie had been dating about three years ago. Fitz thought she was a beautiful girl with long wavy brown hair and eyes that never missed anything. She had a lot of spunk and a great sense of humor. She also only had eyes for Charlie. She seemed so sweet, Fitz recalled.

And then Charlie had said something that pissed her off and it was like a switch had been flipped. She had stood up quickly and started stalking her way toward him. If looks could kill, Charlie would have died right there on the spot. Fitz slapped him on the back and said in a humor filled voice, "She would have kicked your ass if you had said that. What did you really say?"

"I just reminded her that it was poker night in the city. She was cool with it." Charlie replied smoothly. "Besides, she was going to the gun range to practice for a while."

Fitz wasn't surprised that Quinn knew how to shoot a gun. Hell, she probably knew how to drive a tank too. She was edgy and fierce. And perfect for Charlie in every way. "She's a little badass isn't she? I bet you feel safe when you go to bed at night, knowing she is there to protect you." He laughed with his friend.

Charlie grinned. "Smartass. On one hand, you're lucky to be single, Fitzy. Women are crazy creatures sometimes. On the other hand, you are really missing out by not having someone special in your life." Fitz smiled knowingly at Charlie. He knew all too well the difference Olivia had made in his life. The two men walked to the back room, Charlie grabbed a beer from the fridge, and settled into his regular spot at the table.

Charlie took a long pull from his beer and glanced at his watch. "Where the hell are the guys? I've got money to win!"

Fitz gave him a questioning look and said, "Have you taken lessons since last month? We only invite you to pad the pot. You make winning so much sweeter." Charlie threw up a middle finger and there was a knock on the door.

"It's about time." Charlie griped as he watched Fitz walk to the door.

A tall well dressed man walked into the bakery and hugged Fitz's neck. "Pimp Daddy is here, Charlie!"

"Man, stop calling me that! Just because I work on Wall Street and dress like I have some sense, doesn't mean you've got to give me a stupid nickname." Michael smiled at his two friends and shook his head back and forth. He loved poker night. It was a nice escape from the fast paced world he worked in every day. He loved the three guys who had become like brothers to him over the past fifteen years too. Being a numbers guy, he always went into the game feeling like he was going to win big. But somehow Fitz pulled in all their money every time. Michael couldn't figure out how he did it week after week, and kept his eye on him for tells. He never saw one.

Fitz looked his friend over and whistled at his sharp suit. He was still puzzled about why Michael continued to hang out with the rest of them. He was the most successful of the four of them, and yet week after week, Michael showed up in his nice suits, right after work, to hang out with the three peasants and gave his money to Fitz begrudgingly, always accusing him of cheating. He grinned at Michael, turned to lock the door, and saw the fourth man standing on the other side of it, dragging his tongue up the length of the glass door. Michael laughed as Fitz chastised their friend. "Get inside, you sick degenerate! I'll have to clean that you know."

Fitz clapped his hand on the fourth man's back and laughed at him. "Charlie, call Quinn and ask her to come down here and shoot Roberto. He's acting like an asshole again."

"Kiss my ass, Fitz. And for the hundredth time, that's not my name." Fitz chuckled at his friend, watched him hug Charlie, and say, "Don't you dare call her, man. That woman hates me, and she would shoot me on sight!"

All four men laughed at the accuracy of that statement. It was no secret that Quinn was no fan of Robs. It was his own fault though for jokingly trying to set Charlie up with his sister at their rehearsal dinner. The joke had quietly gone as planned until Rob's sister loudly asked Charlie where he was taking her after the 'boring supper thing' was over. Quinn wasted no time shooting daggers at Rob's sister. When the truth came out that it was all just a joke, Quinn turned her wrath on Rob. It hadn't been pretty and Quinn threatened Rob within an inch of his life if he tried anything so asinine again.

Rob was basically a good guy. He was a construction worker for a rather big company in the city. He kept busy during the week and spent his weekends drinking beer and being lazy. He was the crazy one in the group and had always eagerly joined in any fight the other three ever got into in high school, which had been few. He was always trying to set the single guys up with women that he knew, and was always unsuccessful with it. They made him stop years ago and promised to beat him up if he ever tried to play match maker again. Rob had believed the lie and stopped, figuring they were grown men. If they wanted to be miserable and single for the rest of their lives it was no skin off his teeth. Rob was currently single and had been for years. Another reason they didn't want him setting them up. Cupid can't have a bad track record and think he knows what's best for everyone else in the dating world.

"Are we going to play cards? Or stand around pissing our pants afraid that Quinn might show up? She's really not that scary. Unless I want her to be. And then she's amazing." Charlie said with a wicked grin. "She's got this black leather thing..."

"Man, shut the hell up. I don't want to know what freaky thing your woman does with you behind closed doors." Fitz exclaimed covering his ears. "Let's get some food and play cards. You guys brought my cash, right?" He stopped walking and spread his hands out toward them. "You can just hand it over now and save yourself the embarrassment if you want to? I'll still let you eat the snacks I made. I can be decent."

The other three men looked at each other and nodded their heads. They slowly walked towards Fitz in unison. Charlie held him while Rob punched him in the arm and Michael vigorously ran his hands all over Fitz's head, and said, "Pretty boy's curls are all messed up." And then kicked him in the ass.

Fitz laughed at them and said, "Fine, we'll play cards. The end result will be the same though. You'll see."

The four men filled plates with snacks, grabbed beers from the fridge, and sat in their usual spots around the circular plastic table. They made fun of Fitz for the cookies he decorated, but each man secretly thought they looked cool. "Since I was the last one to show up, I'll deal first." Rob stated.

"Take your jacket off first you cheater. You know the rules." Charlie reminded him. "And you know we have those rules because you got busted cheating last year." Fitz and Michael joined with Charlie on the laughter.

"Yea yea. You guys think your such hot shit, and never thought about cheating?" Rob looked around the table and dared anyone to deny it. "That's what I thought."

"We've all thought about it. We've just never gotten caught, you dumb ass." Michael said on a laugh.

"I'll deal," Charlie said, snatching the cards away from Rob. "Sit down and eat a cookie, tough man."

They played for a while and talked about their personal lives in between. "Michael, can you give me some stock tips? Insider trading stuff? So I can retire early and live the life of luxury I've always been meant to? Rob asked.

Michael gave him a bland stare. "Yea. I've been dying to sit in the same jail cell Martha Stewart sat in for the same reason." That got a few snickers from Fitz and Charlie. "The only life you've been meant to live is working hard day in and day out, just like the rest of us. The only difference is, your work is physical and mine is mental. Hard work pays off no matter how you do it."

Rob rolled his eyes at his friend. "Leave it to the rich guy to break it down for us poor folks." Michael flipped him off and Rob continued his rant. "I feel so educated now."

Charlie laid down his cards with a huge grin and made everyone groan. "Pay up bitches! With this money, I can afford to buy my lady some more leather." He wiggled his eyebrows up and down repeatedly.

"Seriously, stop talking about leather and your wife. My ears are bleeding over here!" Fitz whined.

"You're not doing so good tonight, Fitzy my boy. Why is that? Usually you take every last dime from all of us. What gives?" Charlie asked.

The truth was, Fitz was kind of nervous about Olivia meeting his friends. He knew they would love her, but he didn't know how to tell them that he was off the market, most likely for good. He decided to bring her up to them before she got there. "It's a woman," he said plainly.

All three heads snapped in his direction and the room became silent as a tomb. They waited for him to elaborate and when the silence dragged on, Charlie piped in to ease the awkwardness. "Holy shit! Fitzy's got himself a girl! Does that mean you're getting laid on a regular basis now?"

"Does she have a sister?" Rob asked. He got punched in the arm for it.

"How come you haven't mentioned her before?" Michael asked.

Time to put the crazy cards on the table, Fitz thought to himself. He delayed answering by getting up and grabbing beers for everyone. When he sat back down he told them everything. "I met her at the dry cleaners six days ago. She was seriously checking me out, because, hey, I'm a good looking guy." Rob threw a napkin at him and rolled his eyes. "She had on a sundress and looked so beautiful in it. She was a master of flirting, I might add. Anyways, she was looking for something to write on and I slipped her one of my business cards. She used the back side of it and gave me her company pen. She's very sneaky. So I asked her out and she said yes, but then wouldn't give me her number."

"Wait. What? I'm confused." Charlie said. "You just said that she said yes."

Fitz laughed. Both at his friend and the frustrating memory. "She did say yes. But she said I had to find her. I came back to the bakery and was checking in a delivery guy. I signed the invoice with the pen that was in my shirt pocket, It was the pen she had given me earlier. I looked at it more closely and noticed it had her company name and address on it. Like I said, sneaky girl."

"This is like something out of a romantic comedy or some shit." Michael said.

"What the hell does the wolf of Wall Street know about romantic comedies?" Rob asked.

"Fuck you. Let the man tell his story." Michael said.

Fitz laughed at the banter between his friends and continued. "I sent roses and a note to her office and told her I had bought us tickets to see Hamilton on Broadway. And if she wanted to go out with me on Saturday, she had to figure out where I was at."

Charlie leaned over and high fived Fitz. "THAT is the way you do it guys! Put the work on her! Nice going Fitzy."

"Would you guys shut the hell up! I want to hear this story," Michael griped. "What happened next?"

Fitz was loving the hilarious feedback his friends were providing him with, but he continued with his story. "She showed up here, at the bakery, on Thursday afternoon. After I closed the bakery, I cooked her dinner and we ate and talked for a while. I had to jump through some serious hoops to get two tickets to that play. It's the hottest thing around right now. Luckily, one of my best customers works behind the scenes and scored me the tickets. All I owe him is whatever he wants from The Sweet Spot for free for the rest of his life." Fitz grinned showing all his white teeth. "It was worth it.

"When she opened her door, the night I picked her up, it was well worth it. She was breath taking in a tight purple ribbony dress thing." Everyone at the table had stopped eating and drinking and were literally on the edges of their seats listening to this story. "I got a town car and driver to take us around. That was a good call on my part, because I almost forgot the things you can do with a woman in the back seat of a car." The guys laughed at him and nodded knowingly. "We went to dinner, and then saw the play, which is amazing. You all need to go see it! Amazing."

"I am speaking for all of us when I say we don't care about the play. Skip that "amazing" part and continue on, for the love of god. Did you get laid or what?" Rob asked.

Michael turned to Rob and said, "Say another word and I will take off my expensive coat and throw your ass out into the street."

Rob turned away and muttered something unintelligible, but listened to the rest of the story in silence.

"I was about to take her home when my mom called and told me my dad was in the hospital. So we went there so I could be with mom. Turns out he's fine, but mom is still treating him like an invalid. Poor dad." Fitz laughed. "Anyways, we've been together every day ever since. I know it sounds crazy, since I just met her, but I really think she is the one."

"What do you mean...the one?" Robb exclaimed. "You haven't even known her for a week!"

"As in marriage?" Charlie shouted. "No way! You're not ready! Let me tell YOU some stories of exactly how not ready you are."

"Seriously, Fitz? I think that's great." Michael got up and hugged his happy friend and patted his back. "Sometimes when you know, you just know. I had that once, but I was an asshole and lost it."

"Really?" Fitz asked. "I had no idea. When was this?"

As Charlie and Rob continued to rant and rave and yelled warnings to their mental friend, Michael and Fitz continued their conversation. "It was back in college while we were all out of touch. I dated a girl who was perfect. For me anyways. I fucked it up though and she left."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Pimp Daddy. You'll find the one though. Sometimes it happens when you're not even looking for it." Fitz turned around to face the two men that were losing their minds behind him. "You're not going to change my mind about this. So shut the hell up and eat a cookie. Besides, it's time I win all of that money back from Charlie."

They four men sat back down and continued playing cards. Fitz won most of the money back and was rubbing it in their faces. He was never a polite winner. An hour later, a beeping sound was heard at the table. The men looked around at each other, and it was then that Fitz realized he had left his cell phone near the refrigerator. He walked over and picked it up and smiled really big before saying "Hey, Babe."

Three male faces scrunched up simultaneously as they turned their heads in Fitz's direction. "Did he just say Babe? You gotta be shittin me," Rob said in a disgusted tone. "It's worse than we thought. He's already whipped."

Fitz shot them all the middle finger as he continued his phone call with Olivia. "Ok, I'll see you in a few minutes. Bye" He ended the call and turned to see three irritated friends. "What?"

"It's poker night, man. No wives or girlfriends," Charlie whined.

"Shut up. She's not staying long. I just wanted her to meet the three of you. She'll be here any minute. Do me a favor and don't act like complete assholes." The knock on the door turned Fitz's stern looking face into a happy grin.

He walked to the door and saw her standing on the other side. He leaned on the door frame through the locked door and said, "Password please, Miss Pope."

Somewhere in the back room Fitz could hear one of his friends whisper, "Did he just call her Miss Pope? What the fuck is that all about?"

"Let me in and I'll give it to you," She flirted.

"Promises promises. I hope you're not using your sex appeal to gain entrance into my bakery?" He flirted right back.

Olivia smiled seductively at him, "I guess the only way you'll find out is if you open the door."

"That works for me." Fitz unlocked the door, pulled her to his chest and held her there for a minute. He felt so much lighter now that his friends knew about Olivia, knew that he was in a relationship that meant something. He couldn't wait to introduce her to them. But first things first. He pulled his face out of her neck and smiled down at her. "Hi. What's the password?"

Olivia smiled back at him. "Hi. Come close. It's a secret." As Fitz leaned down to her face, she kissed his lips softly, reaching up to touch his curls. Fitz wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her even closer. It was Olivia who deepened the kiss, opening her mouth, allowing his tongue to dance with hers.

Remembering that he had guests, Fitz pulled back from the kiss and rested his forehead on hers. "I'm sorry but that's not the password. Wanna try again?" Olivia swatted at him as they both chuckled.

He held her hand and led her into the back room. Once there, she stopped mid step while Fitz kept walking. He turned back to her when he felt resistance from her arm. She looked stunned. All at once both Fitz and Michael could be heard saying, "Olivia?"

Fitz's head snapped up to Michaels in question. "You know her?"


	13. Golden Boy

**I spent more time trying to figure out this chapter than any other before it. Most of my reviewers shared the same idea of what they thought Michael & Olivia's history was. That was honestly my first thought too. But that seemed too easy. So let's raise a toast on this Thanksgiving. To curveballs. Enjoy**

Golden Boy

There was complete silence in the room as everyone looked at Michael. Four sets of eyes waited to see what would happen next. Olivia was still rooted in the same place, still looked stunned. Fitz was completely bewildered. Michael's shocked eyes were on Olivia. Charlie whispered to Rob, "Pimp Daddy knows Fitzy's girl. This is gonna be good." They both grabbed a handful of chips and waited for the show to start.

Michael and Olivia were staring at each other in silence. Neither one could believe the other one was really there. The tension in the room was palpable. All five of them felt it. Fitz repeated his question, a little louder. "Michael, you know Olivia?"

It was enough to snap them both out of the dumbstruck moment. Olivia noticed that Michael wasn't saying anything, explaining anything, so she took it upon herself. She closed her eyes, shook her head once, turned to Fitz, and said, "Michael and I went to Georgetown together. We...had a mutual friend. Didn't we, Michael?"

Michael listened to her explanation, and knew that while it was true, the story was missing some very important personal parts. He was more than fine with that. Fitz would probably try to beat the shit out of him if he knew the whole thing. And Michael hadn't been the victim of a beating since high school. He certainly wasn't going to tell him. So he smiled brightly at Fitz and agreed to the truth Olivia had shared. "That's right. Georgetown seems like a lifetime ago though, doesn't it?"

"Most days it does. Other days, like today, it seems like yesterday." She said with a bland stare. "What have you been up to since college? Did you ever get married? Have any kids?" She was taunting him and they both knew it, knew why.

He gave her a hard look, but answered her questions. "I don't have time for a wife or kids right now. I stay pretty busy with work, but always keep my eye open for Mrs. Right. Do you have any single friends who are also looking?"

"I'm not setting you up with any of my friends. What do you do for work now?" She could play the polite game with him. Her stomach was in knots and she hated that he still had that effect on her, but she could do it.

"I work on Wall Street as a trader. I do quite well for myself these days. I'm not the same person I was when I was in college. I've changed." Michael looked her in the eye and hoped that his statement spoke loud to her. He wanted her to know he had changed. That he was able to change.

"Are you still playing basketball?" Olivia felt like she was having the most ridiculous conversation of her life with a person she had no interest in being around whatsoever. Not any more.

Michael shot her a sad smile. "That championship game for Georgetown was my last time on the court. I accomplished what I needed to that night. For the school and for myself. I never wanted to play the game again after that."

He had summed it up perfectly. Asshole, she thought to herself. "Well, at least you went out on a high note and did what you needed to do. I think your jersey is still hanging up in the gym. You always did wind up on top."

"Not always," he quietly said.

Fitz was grinning widely at his friend. "It's so great that the two of you already know each other. It makes things a little simpler. I'd love to listen to some of the stories the two of you must have. College was probably really interesting. I'll bet you have some dirt on Olivia, and I bet she has some on you? Fitz grinned at Olivia and planted a kiss on top of her head. "The three of us need to get together soon and talk over dinner."

Olivia bristled at the thought of spending more time with Michael than absolutely necessary. She smiled at Fitz and avoided eye contact with Michael as much as possible. Michael smiled tightly and said, "I'll look at my schedule and see if I have time to squeeze in dinner somewhere. If it doesn't work out, I'm sure Olivia will fill you in on anything you want to know. She's great at telling stories, aren't you Olivia?"

"I am. But only true ones. Should I tell one now, Michael?" She asked with a hardness in her voice.

Michael grabbed his phone from the card table and stuck it in his suit pocket. "Maybe next time. I've got to get going. Early morning for me tomorrow. See you guys in a month. Nice to see you again, Olivia." He walked to the door and let himself out.

"We aren't finished playing poker though!" Charlie whined. He was trying to figure out what had just happened, but had no idea. Michael was always the last one to leave on poker night.

Rob could be heard muttering, "Girlfriends and wives fuck everything up."

Olivia turned to the two complaining men and smiled at them. "I'm really sorry I interrupted your poker night. I promise I'll stay far away next month." Charlie punched Rob in the arm and called him an asshole as Olivia chuckled. "Who was winning?"

Rob rolled his eyes and begrudgingly said, "Fitz was on a roll the last few hands. I know he cheats but I haven't been able to catch him at it yet."

Fitz laughed at his friend and watched as Olivia pressed something into his hand. "I'm a fantastic lawyer. If you think you have a case, give me a call. We can make him pay for pain and suffering."

Rob held up her business card and read it. He shot Fitz a grin and a middle finger and said, "See this? I control you now, son! If you get out of line I'm going to call your girlfriend and take you to court. Thanks, Olivia."

"You're welcome, Rob." Olivia shook his hand and gave Fitz a huge smile, to which she got a frown in return. "Don't mess with my client, Mister! I'm very good at what I do."

Fitz pulled her close to him and whispered in her ear, "I know exactly how good you are at what you do, Miss Pope." He kissed her nose and added, "You just called me, Mister. I'll bet your parents would be so proud right now." As Fitz roared with laughter, Olivia turned a bright shade of red.

"Would you like me to take this guy outside and kick his ass, Olivia?" Charlie asked with a smile. He liked her for some reason other than she was Fitz's girl. She was the kind of person who made you feel like you've known them along time. And she didn't act like she was better than any of them either. Charlie admired that in her. He wondered if Olivia would get along with Quinn.

"You and what army? Fitz teased.

Olivia was enjoying the comradery between these three men. It was obvious that they cared about each other a great deal. She wished things between her and Michael didn't have to be so strained. That the five of them could all get along and spend time together every so often, for dinner maybe. But that would never happen. Olivia wasn't interested in spending time with Michael. Not within the group and definitely not alone. But these two were different. Even though she had screwed up their precious poker night, they didn't hate her for it. "As much as I think he needs that, Charlie, I kinda like his ass the way it is."

"HA! The woman said my ass is perfect, boys! Besides, you couldn't kick a tin can. Go home and get your freaky leather fantasy going with Quinn." Fitz shook his hand and watched him gather up his things.

"It was really nice to meet you Charlie," Olivia said as she also shook his hand. She leaned in close to Charlie and said in a low voice, "The same offer goes for you as it does for Rob. Call me if he gets out of hand in the future." She slid her card to him with a wink.

Charlie grinned at her and told Fitz, "Don't lose this one! She'll help us keep you in line and that's a hard thing to do. Have a good evening. I know I'm going to." He had a happy but wicked gleam in his eye as he walked out the door with Rob trailing behind him.

"I'm going to go too, Fitz. I have a headache. I think I'm going to go home, take something, and lay down." She pecked Fitz on the lips.

"Don't go, Babe. I probably have some Tylenol in my office. Since the game is over anyways, I'll follow you home as soon as I'm done cleaning up." Fitz wanted to take care of her.

"I'll be fine. I'm just going to put on my pj's and go to sleep. You'd be bored. I'll see you tomorrow?" Olivia tried to keep it together and act normal. Inside she was freaking out.

Fitz pulled Olivia close to him and kissed her. "Call me when you get home, ok?"

"I absolutely will." She pecked his lips once more, told him goodbye, and walked out the door.

As soon as she walked outside, Olivia stopped and took a deep breath. That was the most uncomfortable she had been in a very long time. Charlie and Rob were great. She could see why they got along so well with Fitz. They both seemed so easy going and fun. But she was still in shock that one of Fitz's best friends was Michael. This wasn't good. She put her purse on her shoulder and started walking around the corner toward her car.

An arm grabbed her and pulled her deep into the ally beside the bakery. Olivia was about to scream for help when she came face to face with Michael. Suddenly, she wasn't scared. She was pissed off. "What the hell is wrong with you, Michael? Have you lost your mind? Get your hands off of me and don't ever touch me again!"

Michael dropped his hand from her as if being burned. He held his hands out, palms facing her and said, "I just want to talk to you." Olivia turned to go but Michael pleaded with her. "You can stand over there and I'll stand over here. I'm just asking for a few minutes of your time. I promise I won't touch you."

Olivia felt her skin crawl, knowing he was looking at her. She took a few steps away, pointed a finger at him, and said, "What the hell do you want to talk about?"

"I want to talk to you about Fitz. Are you going to tell him about what happened in college?" He watched her expression change from defiant to worried. It calmed him some. Women were unpredictable, but he didn't know what Olivia would do. And he needed to know. "I think it would really hurt him if you did."

"You only care because if I did tell him, you wouldn't be one of his favorite people anymore. His opinion of you would change drastically. Isn't that what you're really worried about? Number one?" He had some audacity! Trying to act like he's protecting Fitz, when in reality he was only trying to protect himself.

Michael watched her for a moment. She looked mad. And conflicted. This Olivia wasn't the same girl he knew in college. She was tougher, more determined, and not to be taken for granted. Michael spread his hands at her and said, "Look, I'll admit that I am worried about what Fitz will think of me, if he learns the whole truth. And if he was dating any other girl, it wouldn't bother me. But it's you. I'm very sorry for what happened that night back in Georgetown. I've said it many times before and I'll say it again. You know that wasn't me. You and I got along so well up until that night, and you know I would never act that way under normal circumstances. It was the alcohol from that damn party. I can't change the past, but I think it's best to leave it there though. Don't you agree?"

Olivia knew he was right. If Fitz found out what happened years ago in DC, he would probably end his friendship with Michael. And while she wouldn't mind never seeing him again, she knew Fitz only had three friends whom he thought of as brothers. She didn't want to be responsible for changing that. But on the other hand, it wasn't her fault. It was Michaels. His actions, while years ago, were ultimately his own responsibility to bear.

And she shouldn't lie to Fitz just so Michael could sleep at night. She cared about Fitz and she shouldn't cover up something his friend did a bunch of years ago. What if Fitz's feelings for her changed once he found out the truth? He has known Michael much longer than he has known her, and has a bond with him. It could happen. She wasn't sure she could handle that. But she knew she couldn't handle acting like everything was fine between her and Michael either. Not even for appearances sake. "Look, Michael..." She started.

"You certainly didn't help the situation by telling everyone, and I do mean everyone, what happened. And why did you tell Jessica? We were supposed to get married, have lots of kids, and grow old together. You really screwed up my life, Liv. My reputation was almost ruined. If I hadn't pulled out that win for the basketball team at the championships, my name would have been shit forever. I hate to think about what my life would have been like if I hadn't made that three point shot." Michael didn't like placing any of the blame on her, but she did have a part in what happened too. He thought she needed to see that.

"So it's my fault? Is that what you're saying?" Olivia was absolutely amazed at what he was saying to her. "Do you even remember what happened that night? Or did the alcohol take all of your brain cells? Let me jog your memory."

"That's really not necess..." He began. But he was quickly cut off.

"Oh but I think it really is necessary. You seem to think that any of that was remotely my fault! So let's clear that up right now, shall we? You had just proposed to one of my best friends. Everyone knew you and Jessica would get married because you were perfect for each other. You were both driven, hard working, and completely in love. But she said not yet. She wanted to finish college, get her degree in child development, and get a good paying job before she got married. And you couldn't accept that for some reason.

"So you took your heart broken ass to a party the same night. Which is where you found me. Drinking alone and feeling sorry for myself." Olivia swallowed her pride and continued. "And enough time has passed that I can admit the reason I was feeling sorry for myself. It was because I wanted someone to look at me the way you two always looked at each other. I wanted to be in love. Not with you, but with someone who would treat me decently and love me back wholeheartedly.

Being friends with Jessica, I heard all about how special you made her feel. She loved you more than anything in this world, and had you taken her answer and been patient and waited, you would have been married to her for at least ten years by now and had all kinds of babies with her. But instead, you decided to go to a party and drink your sorrows away. And when I offered to take you back to your dorm so you could sleep it off and sober up, you took that as an invitation for sex." Olivia was completely unaware that she was shouting at him now.

"You pulled me into a bedroom. I thought we were going to talk, but that was the last thing on your mind, wasn't it? I asked if you wanted to go get some coffee but you tried to kiss me. When I refused you shoved me up against the wall and almost knocked me unconscious. I kept saying 'No No No' but it didn't make any difference to you. You ripped my shirt off." Olivia started pacing in circles as she spoke. She needed to get this out. Even if he remembered what had happened, she needed to say it to him. She glanced up at him and saw him staring at the ground. She was back in that dark room with him as she spoke, but she kept going. "I was begging you to stop. To leave me alone. To let me out of that room. But you just laughed and kept pawing at me.

"Thank God that guy walked into the room we were in a few minutes later, looking for his coat. I ran out of there as fast as I could. To get away from you." Olivia was hugging her arms to herself as the memory enveloped her. "I went back to my dorm and showered under the hottest water I could stand and tried to scrub the memory of your hands off of my body. It took me months to deal with what happened. When my parents noticed something wasn't quite right a few weeks later, they suggested I go to a therapist. And I am so glad I eventually did. I told her every disgusting detail and she helped me deal with all of it."

Olivia glanced up at him again. "My therapist wanted me to press charges against you, but I didn't want to dredge it all up again in front of strangers. I really didn't think I had a case since, in my young mind, nothing serious happened. I didn't think I had a shot of winning even if I did go to court. It would be your word against mine, and you were back in everyone's good graces by then. So instead, I graduated from Georgetown and moved back to New York to be near my parents.

Do you know how embarrassing and humiliating that was? You were the boyfriend of one of my friends. I thought of you as a friend too. Jessica and I used to talk about your wedding. She had everything planned out you know. She had already chosen her bridesmaids and spoke to her mom about the venue she wanted. She even had an idea of which kind of dress she would wear. She knew you would eventually propose to her again, and she was still in love with you.

When I got my courage up, I told her what had happened. I felt like she deserved to know the truth about the man she was in love with. She ended things with you the same day I told her, and when the semester was over, she transferred to another college, far away. I told my closest friends so they would keep their guard up around you. Apparently they told their friends too. Because before long, everyone knew what had happened. And then you won that damn basketball game and you were the golden boy at Georgetown again."

Tears were forming as Olivia pressed on to get the rest of the story out. For peace of mind or closure. She didn't know which, and right now, she didn't care. "You may not have raped me that night, but it was definitely on your agenda. Are you man enough to admit that now? After all these years, Michael?"

He finally looked up at her and shouted his answer. "I told you before, Olivia, that wasn't me! I had never done anything like that before that night, and have never done anything like it since. I was devastated when Jess told me no when I proposed. That's not an excuse. That's a fact. I apologized to you back then, and while I know that an apology doesn't change what happened, I can't undo it!" Michael ran his fingers through his hands in frustration. He tried for a softer voice. "I am so very sorry for what happened in that dark room all those years ago. I am. And I am sorry that I did those things to you. It was wrong and I can't make it go away. But I have changed, Olivia. I am not that pathetic party guy who is constantly trying to hook up with some girl just because he wants to. After that night, I focused on getting out of college and getting a good job so that when I did eventually meet the woman I would marry, I would have my head on right."

"I knew what your reputation was back then because we were friends. And you're right, I had never heard of you doing anything like that before. I'm glad you have changed. That you have made changes to your life and how you live it. But the fact of the matter is, I was the girl who you abused on a bad night. And you didn't answer the question." Olivia folded her arms across her chest and waited.

"I don't know what would have happened if that kid hadn't walked in that room. I'm so very thankful that he did though. But I can't answer that definitively. If you are going to press me for an answer, then I would have to say, given the frame of mind I was in back then, then yea, it probably would have."

Olivia bent at the waist and released guttural sounds and cries at his admission. To think that would have been the end result was one thing. To hear him admit that it probably would have happened was another thing altogether. She thought this conversation would bring healing but she was wrong. She just felt terrible. Things couldn't really get any worse than they were right now. Or so she thought.

"What did you just say?"

Olivia looked up at the entrance of the alley toward the familiar voice she now knew as well as her own. A lone shadow of a man could be seen from where Michael and Olivia were at. Fitz was standing there with his hands clenched in fists at his side. Although they couldn't see it, he had a horrified look on his face and slowly started walking toward them. He growled, looked in Michael's direction, and shouted, "What the fuck did you just say?"


	14. Donut Run

Donut Run

"Fitz, it's not worth it!" Olivia shouted as she watched Fitz continue to stalk his way towards them. When he caught up to where they were standing, Olivia stepped into his path. He was furious and breathing hard. "Look at me!" She shouted.

He reluctantly turned his hard stare from Michael to Olivia. The look on his face immediately softened and Fitz pulled her close to him in an intense hug. He held onto her for a minute and pulled away. He had heard voices from the ally as he was locking up the bakery to go home. When he walked to the entrance of the ally, he was in complete surprise to see Olivia shouting at Michael. He stood there and listened to their conversation even though it felt like an invasion of privacy. Then again, they were shouting, so that feeling quickly left him.

After hearing what his friend of fifteen years had just admitted, Fitz wanted nothing more than to beat him to a bloody pulp. He never knew Michael was capable of thinking or doing such a thing to a woman. He felt like he didn't know his friend as well as he thought he did.

As he looked at Olivia, all he could do was picture her as a helpless young woman stuck in a room with a tall muscular guy who wouldn't let her go. To know the guy was one of his best friends was too much for him to imagine. It pissed him off all over again. He wanted to beat this man until he felt helpless and small and inferior. He pulled away from Olivia and once again turned to Michael. "I asked you a question!" he shouted. "I'm waiting for an answer."

Olivia knew Fitz wanted to seriously hurt Michael. She wanted nothing more than for him to feel pain, but she couldn't let that happen. She also knew it wouldn't change anything that had already happened. She grabbed his hand, and even though he tried to let go of it, she held onto his firmly. She pulled him away from Michael and back to facing her again. She put both of her hands on his cheeks in an effort to keep his attention. "I'm so sorry you heard us talking about that. That you found out about it that way. When Michael pulled me into the ally, I thought..."

Fitz immediately snapped his head to where Michael stood behind him and pulled away from her. "You touched her?" He asked incredulously. He pulled his arm back and punched Michael once in the face. And then twice in the stomach. Blood squirted from his nose as he sunk to the ground with a groan. "You don't ever fucking touch her again! Do you hear me?"

Fitz turned back to Olivia, who was helplessly watching the scene in front of her. Fitz stepped to her and wrapped his arms around her. "Are you ok? Did he hurt you? Are you hurt?" Do you need me to...?"

Fitz ran his hands up and down her arms to check for pain. Olivia appreciated the fact that he was trying to take care of her, but she needed to get through to him. "He didn't hurt me, Fitz. We were just talking. I know you are shocked, but that happened a long time ago."

Fitz gave her a look of confusion and dropped his hands, much like Michael had done earlier. "Are you defending him? He just admitted that he would have raped you! And you are going to defend him?"

"I'm not defending him, Fitz. I never thought I would have to see him again. I was shocked when I saw him sitting in your bakery with cards in his hand. I was trying to act normal but on the inside I was panicking. I knew I needed to tell you about it as soon as I realized he was one of your friends, but I never wanted you to find out this way. It's what we were talking about. Me telling you. You beating him up won't change anything. Look at me. I am fine. I..."

"You may be fine, but I'm not!" Fitz yelled. He pointed at Michael, who was laying on the ground in pain. "That piece of shit did something to you that no woman should ever have to endure. You've had years to deal with what happened. I've had five minutes. So forgive me if I can't act like I didn't just hear that one of my best friends tried to rape my girlfriend! I don't care if it was a hundred years ago or yesterday. This is going to be dealt with tonight. You need to go home. Now."

"How do you plan to deal with it? By beating him up? I'm not leaving so you can end up in jail because of it, Fitz. You need to calm down." Olivia had never seen this side of him and it scared her.

"I'm not going to calm down. And you asking me to calm down isn't helping either, Olivia." At the sight of her shocked expression, Fitz softened. "I need you to go home. Or go to Abby's house if you want." Fitz hugged her to his chest tighter than necessary. When he pulled back from her he saw the hesitation in Olivia's eyes. "I will call you in the morning, and it won't be from jail. I won't kill him either. I promise. Go." He kissed her tenderly and laid his forehead on hers. "Please." When Olivia nodded, Fitz looked over at the bloody, crumpled, groaning person on the ground and told him to get up. "Michael and I are going back inside and we are going to talk. I don't want you anywhere near here."

Olivia nodded once again and walked out of the ally and to her car. Once she was safely in the driver's seat with the doors locked, she started crying uncontrollably. For the words Michael had said. For Fitz finding out. For a friendship that was in danger of ending. For all of it. She felt exhausted when she finally stopped crying. She wiped her eyes, started her car, and headed home.

She walked into her house and went into her bedroom. Olivia riffled through her dresser and closet for pajamas as well as something to wear to work tomorrow. She put her clothing into an overnight bag and gathered her cosmetics and hair care stuff from the bathroom. Once everything was packed, she picked up her phone and called Abby. After three rings she answered. "Abby, can I come over and stay the night with you? I really don't want to be home alone."

This was not the first time Olivia had called her, and Abby knew her friend only asked if it was important. She knew Olivia would fill her in on all the details once she got there. "Of course, Liv. It's a perfect night for a slumber party actually, because Stephen is out of town for work. I'll open a bottle of wine and we can talk." She wondered what had happened.

"Thanks, Abby. I owe you one. I'll be there in ten minutes." Olivia felt a small measure of relief. Abby would help her figure things out and put them in perspective. She was thankful for her friend.

"You owe me more than one, but we'll start there. See you soon." Abby chirped. She wasn't feeling much like being alone either. Having company would help her recover from the fight she had had with Stephen earlier this afternoon. They could help each other by talking. Or not talking at all. She opened a wine bottle and waited for Liv.

Olivia knocked on Abby's door a short while later and walked in without invitation, putting her bags on the floor. She felt at home here. In fact, this was her home away from home. That is, until Abby had started dating Stephen. She didn't go to her friend's house near as much as she used to. She didn't want to interfere with their lives. Besides, she worked with Abby every day and that was enough. Unless either of them had a bad day or something had happened and the two women needed to spend time together away from the office. This qualified as one of those times.

The two friends hugged each other and Abby immediately passed Olivia a glass of red wine. They walked into the living room and sat on the couch, side by side, and drank from their glasses. Abby looked at Olivia and noticed she had been crying. She wondered if Fitz was responsible for it. She hoped he wasn't. He seemed perfect for her and Olivia for him. But...Men were shits and caused women to cry all the time. She would wait until Olivia was ready to spill her guts.

After ten minutes of silence and the second glass of wine was halfway gone, Olivia told Abby the reason she was there. "I met Fitz's friends tonight at the bakery. I told you earlier that it was their poker night."

"Right. I remember." Abby took another sip of the red liquid from her stemmed glass. "Did something happen while you were there?"

"Oh yea." Olivia downed the rest of the wine in her glass and refilled it. "Fitz has three best friends. The four of them have been friends since high school." She looked Abby in the eye. "Michael is one of his friends."

Abby scrunched up her face in thought. "Michael who? Stephen's friend, Michael? He's cute!"

Olivia rolled her eyes and tried for patience. "No, not him." She took a breath. "Georgetown Michael." As recognition bloomed across Abby's face, Olivia said, "Yea. Can you believe it?"

"No freaking way! How did Fitz end up with that asshole as a friend? How did it go seeing him again after all those years? I'll bet that was awkward as hell." Abby had all but forgotten her argument with Stephen. No wonder Liv wanted to come stay with her.

"It was really weird. I was as polite to him as I could be in front of everyone. I didn't want to cause a scene. But I asked him about basketball. If he was married or had kids yet." When Abby smirked at her, Olivia smiled.

Abby had a million questions for Olivia. She tried to pace herself, but it was useless. "So what happened after that? Did you punch him in the balls? Call him an asshole? Spill his dirty secret in front of everyone?"

"I didn't do any of that." She said with a chuckle. "He left shortly after meeting me. But I met the other two guys. They were really nice. Charming even." When Abby gave her the hurry-up-and-get-to-the-point hand motion, Olivia continued. "Anyways, after I met everyone I walked outside to go home. Michael grabbed me and pulled me into the ally beside the bakery."

"No he didn't! I will kill that bastard for touching you." Abby had stood up and was pacing around her living room and muttering threats of creative ways to make Michael pay for touching her friend. "What the hell did he do that for?"

"He wanted to know if I was planning to tell Fitz about what had happened at Georgetown. He acted like he was worried about Fitz but he was only concerned about himself. And don't worry about killing him for touching me, Fitz probably broke his nose when he punched him in the face."

"Waitaminute! Fitz was in the ally too? Holy shit! Your life is never dull, Liv." Abby screeched.

"Fitz heard us yelling in the ally when he was locking up and came to see what the commotion was all about. He heard Michael admit that he probably would have raped me that night, if it hadn't been for that kid who walked in." Olivia looked over at Abby and noticed her friend's eyes were bulging out of her head. "Fitz told me to leave. That he wanted to talk to Michael alone."

"And you left? How do you know Michael isn't dead in a ditch somewhere right now with tire marks across his dick?" Abby wondered if Liv had lost her mind. "Or in jail for killing him?"

"He promised he wouldn't end up in jail, Abby and I believe him." Olivia took a sip from her glass, feeling the warmth of the wine in her blood now. "The thing is, Michael seemed really broken when I basically forced him to admit what would have possibly happened. I'm not excusing it in any way. What he did was wrong, no matter what the reason was."

Abby was not going to let her friend believe that what Michael did was an accident or whatever was running through her mind. She was operating out of fear. Fear that Fitz and Michael would no longer be friends. The problem with that was, it wasn't Liv's place to worry about Michael. He certainly wasn't worried about her. Then or now. She needed some real talk and to drop this heavy thing she had been carrying around with her for a long time.

"Look, Liv. I know what you are trying to do. You are trying to explain away what happened that night so that Michael can keep his world in tact and remain blameless. But that isn't going to happen any more. The truth is out to people who are affected by his actions. The fact of the matter is, you should have pressed charges against him when it happened. Then he would have been judged for it by someone who has the right to judge him. But instead, Fitz is going to judge him with his fists. And if I was over there, I'd help him. He should feel broken. Bone broken.

He doesn't get the right to walk around for the past eleven years like it never happened. You are a lawyer for goodness sake! If a woman came into the office with similar claims, you would go after her attacker with both barrels blazing. This is no different. Even if he only did it once. That was one time too many."

Olivia started crying. She had kept this hidden from most of the world and in one chance meeting, it had exploded in her face. She felt out of control. It was a feeling she didn't like. Olivia knew Abby was right.  
That she shouldn't worry about him now, because he really hadn't worried about her then. It didn't matter who he was, or where he worked, or who his friends were. He had done something to her that he shouldn't have.

He had asked her to not tell Fitz. Who the hell did he think he was? Part of the problem with cases like this is the victim ends up carrying the guilt most times, while the person who did the act doesn't. Olivia was done feeling guilty. With trying to bury a secret that should have been brought to light years ago.

It was too late to do anything legally about the situation, since Olivia had never filled out a report with the campus police or the local police. But she had carried this long enough. Olivia had held this from college into adulthood. It haunted her in every relationship she ever had with a man. And the guilt she felt from it was overwhelming at times. She wondered if it was the reason she was so flirtatious with men?

"You're absolutely right, Abby! I want to go back and give Michael a piece of my mind. And get some answers." Olivia set her glass down and realized they couldn't drive due to the alcohol they had consumed. "We can't drive though."

"Ooooooh, Liv! Let's get an uber! That way we can yell at him while we are tipsy! It'll be so fun!" Abby watched Olivia think about it. "Say yes!"

"Fine. But if Fitz starts yelling at us for showing up, I'm blaming you." She giggled. Olivia called the appropriate number and got a pick up time for ten minutes.

"Ohmygod! I forgot Fitz is going to be there! Hold on!" Abby ran into her bathroom to primp and put on some shiny lipstick. When she came out, Olivia rolled her eyes. "Do you think he'll give us a donut? I'm starving!"

"You'll be too busy staring at his ass to care about a donut, Abby." Olivia went into the bathroom to fix her face from the crying. She came out a lot more determined. "Let's go."

************************************************************************************  
After unlocking the door to the bakery, Michael had gone into the bathroom to clean up as best he could. It had taken a while to get most of the blood off of his face and neck. His tie was ruined. Probably his suit as well. It didn't matter. After careful inspection, he realized his nose wasn't broken, but he  
would definitely get a black eye out of the deal. And his stomach was definitely feeling the blows Fitz had delivered. The weird thing is Michael was glad Fitz knew the truth. Ever since Olivia walked into the bakery he had worried about Fitz finding out, and now that he did know, Michael just felt relieved.

Fitz had made coffee while Michael had cleaned up and the two men sat in silence drinking their cups of hot bliss. Fitz watched him, and for the first time in their friendship, Michael felt like a stranger to him. He wondered if they would be able to get past this. They needed to talk about it. About a lot of things. He didn't know where to start. "I hope your nose isn't broken. I hope it hurts like hell though."

"I don't think it is. I've had my nose broken on the basketball court. You can't hit for shit anyways, man." Michael chuckled and stopped immediately. Pain spread over his face and he took a deep breath in an effort to control it. "I'm really sorry you had to hear about that the way you did. I should have told you about it years ago."

"Why didn't you? Tell me about?" Fitz wanted to hear everything directly from the source. "I would have at least been there to talk to you. And get it dealt with the right way."

Michael played with the handle of his coffee mug for a moment. "I was embarrassed and ashamed. I couldn't believe I had done that. It may be something that happens in college all the time, teenagers hooking up with or without consent of both parties, but that wasn't me. I had never done that before, or since. You know me. It didn't dawn on me until the next day, after I had sobered up. I felt terrible. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't talk to anyone about it. I was an asshole and thought it would blow over or be forgotten. I never dreamed it would come back and bite me on the ass. I'm really sorry that it happened at all. But I'm even sorrier that it was Olivia."

Fitz clenched and unclenched his fists and listened to Michael's apology, but it didn't fix anything. "I thought I knew you. You're like a brother to me and I had a lot of respect for you. But this..." Fitz stood up, put his hands behind his neck, and took a deep breath. He let out his breath and dropped his hands to his side, feeling defeated. "This is really difficult to process, Michael. I honestly don't know where we go from here?"

Michael felt more fear at his friend's words than when Fitz had punched him in the ally. This could end their friendship. Being so focused on his work as an adult, Michael hadn't taken the time to cultivate many solid friendships in his life. He considered Fitz, Charlie, and Rob the closest of his small circle of friends, and they were, as Fitz had said, like his brothers. He didn't want to lose any of them.

"Look, I know this is huge. And I know it affects you personally now. But like I told Olivia," Michael heard Fitz growl deep in his throat and thought it was best if he didn't mention her name any more. "I can't change it. I wish that I could, that I could make it right somehow; but I can't. I don't know what to do."

"I want to know why? Why would a young man, star of the basketball team, in a leading college even do something like that? How does something like that even cross your mind? Since you had never done it before or ever again? Something had to trigger it, Michael. Give me something." Fitz knew nothing Michael said was going to change how he felt on the issue, and most definitely wouldn't erase his anger, but he wanted to know the why.

Michael would have gladly answered anything Fitz threw at him. But this was not the question he expected first. There was an answer. It wasn't an answer that would magically make everyone involved forgive him. In fact, the why was the thing he had kept hidden from everyone. He had never told a soul about it, and he still wasn't ready to tell anyone.

"Look, man, I don't know why I did it. I had been drinking too much and had been turned down by the girl I loved. Isn't that enough of a reason?" Although both were true, Michael knew it wouldn't be enough to pacify Fitz.

Fitz banged his fist on the table. "No! That's not a reason. That's an excuse! I want to know why. But we can come back to that one. Let's see if you can answer this one? What made you think you could put your hands on a woman against her will? What part of your brain thought that was ok? You were raised better than that!"

"Man, you have no idea how I was raised." Michael hung his head in shame and remained quiet.

Fitz was at a loss. Talking this over apparently wasn't going to happen. Michael had clammed up. Fitz wanted to drag him back out into the ally and beat his ass some more. Maybe then he would feel like talking? Fitz got up to get another cup of coffee. When he returned to the table, there was a knock on the door. Fitz looked up to find Olivia and Abby standing on the other side of it. Olivia looked mad. She had probably come back to make sure he hadn't killed Michael. He didn't blame her. The thought had crossed his mind.

He walked to the door and looked at them through the glass. "What do you want, Olivia?" Fitz gestured to where Michael sat, his head still hung downward. "He's alive. Just like I promised."

"Open the door, Fitz. Now!" Olivia was done being nice to everyone. Fitz raised his eyebrows at her in response, but didn't touch the door.

"Tell me why you are here, and why you brought along the red headed stalker?" Fitz winked at Abby and got a huge grin in return.

"Would you believe we are on a donut run?" She tried.

"Sorry. We're closed. Beat it." Fitz started to walk away from her. An unwise decision, Olivia thought.

"Open this door right now, Fitzgerald Grant or I will call the police and tell them I am witnessing a break in!" She smirked at him.

Fitz raked his hands through his hair in frustration. This woman! Why couldn't she just go home and cry herself to sleep like other women? Not his girl. Rob was right, women fuck everything up. "Fine! You get ten minutes and then I'm calling the cops and telling them YOU broke in." He looked at his watch for emphasis. It was didn't work, but she didn't know that. He unlocked the door.

Olivia marched over to where Michael was still sitting mute. She poked her brown finger at him and said, "You and I are going to have a conversation about everything. And I do mean everything!" She looked at Fitz and said, "It takes as long as it takes. You and I both know that watch is broken anyways." Fitz rolled his eyes at her and she said, "I'd love a cup of coffee too please. And I wasn't kidding about the donuts.


	15. Let's Talk

**I wanted to take a minute to say thank you for bearing with me on this Michael storyline. I know it is vastly different from how my story began, but I felt it was too smooth sailing and a bump in the road was needed. It turned out to be a mountain instead of a bump. You may ask why a bump was needed. Life is difficult at times for all of us. And it's through those difficulties that show what we are made of. I realize that as far as the show is concerned, whenever difficulties arise, Olitz can't separate fast enough. I don't subscribe to that way of thinking in my story. I think the difficulties can make you stronger together. That's what I intended to show. I have been getting some help for my story from someone who deals with abuse everyday. She has helped me immensely with this topic and I have learned a lot along the way. Thank you Jan! Thank you for reading my story. I am very humbled by your support and encouragement.**

Let's Talk  
Olivia turned away from Michael and back to Fitz. "I need to talk to you in the back before we get started," was all she said as she continued walking to the room where the four men had been playing cards just a short time ago. Fitz made brief eye contact with Abby, who just shrugged at him, before he started following Olivia.

Fitz had no idea what this was going to be about. She might break down and cry. She might slap him. She might end things with him. She might do all three. He wouldn't be surprised by any of those reactions from Olivia at this point. Once he reached the back room of the bakery, he saw her standing in a corner of it. She had her eyes on his and he kept walking until he was standing right in front of her. "I know you want to talk to me about something, but I really just need this for a minute. And I think you do too. Come here." He held his arms open and she walked into them without hesitation.

She wrapped her little arms around his neck as he wound his large ones around her waist. They simply held each other and nothing felt more right. The longer they stayed in each others arms, the more they realized that this was exactly what they both had needed. A moment of calm togetherness before they faced the impending storm.

With his head resting on top of hers, Fitz said, "I want you to know that no matter what happens or what is said tonight, I'm not going anywhere."

Olivia pulled back from him and looked into his beautiful blue eyes, while her hands stayed around his neck. She was reminded of his words the other day when he said he wasn't perfect, just perfect for her. Truer words had never been spoken. He was perfect for her. He knew what she needed even before she did. He took care of her. He was the man who made her forget all other men. He was perfect for her, and she wasn't going to lose him. She smiled at him and said, "Did you think I would let you go anywhere?"

He returned the smile, leaned down, and captured her lips in a sweet soft kiss as one of his hands found it's way to her cheek. "I mean it. I'm here and I'm staying. If you need to yell, throw things, or beat the shit out of him, I'll still be here. I'll hold him down if you need me to. You are long overdue this conversation with him. And I know somewhere deep under that tough kick ass exterior you might be feeling a little scared or intimidated, but I want you to remember something. If those feelings get to be too overwhelming, you just take my hand. We are going to get through this together and it's going to make us stronger. This is not splitting us up. You got that?"

She was a goner. She knew it. Hell, he probably knew it too. Olivia felt like it was written all over her face. She was in love with him. All the way, head over heels, crazy in love with him. And it wasn't because of the hurdle they were about to face. It was everything. She wanted to tell him, but now wasn't the time. Now they had to wade through the difficult and painful past so they could put it behind them, and move on with their lives. She wasn't going to wait long to tell him how she felt. If she had learned anything from this situation, it was to deal with things when they happened. Not to put them off. "You kinda like me huh?" She teased.

"Miss Pope, you have no idea how much I kinda like you." He leaned down and kissed her again. He poured himself into it, wishing he could somehow transfer his strength and love into her through the kiss.

"I want you to know something too, Fitz. I want you to know that the reason I didn't say anything about any of this when I met him earlier tonight is because I didn't want to be responsible for the way you are feeling about him right now. But all of that aside, this isn't something you tell the person you have been dating a few days. I'm glad this happened now." Olivia stated. When Fitz raised his eyebrows at her, she explained. "What I mean is, I'm glad that you are here. That you are the one standing beside me to help me face it. To help me finally deal with it." Fitz reached for and held her hand. "I want you to know that no matter what happens, this ends tonight. I don't want to hold on to this any more. I want to hear him out and I want him to hear me out. And then I don't want to think about him or see him ever again. I know he is one of your best friends but I..."

"I understand completely." Fitz rested his forehead on hers and pulled her closer.

"I'm sorry that this affects you and your personal life." Olivia felt horrible for how this had spilled over into his life.

"Don't." He warned with a fierce look. "Don't you ever apologize to anyone for any aspect of this situation. Do you understand me? Listen very carefully. None of this is your fault. None of it! You didn't do anything wrong, so there is no reason for you to apologize. It's going to piss me off if I ever hear you say you're sorry for it again. Ok?"

Olivia just held him closer. She let out the breath she had been holding in. He understood how she felt and didn't hold any of it against her. Again she felt thankful for finding this truly good man. "Ok. Thank you for that." was her reply.

Fitz pulled out of their embrace and, still holding her hand, ran his thumb across her bottom lip as she watched him. "Are you ready to get this over with?"

"As long as you are with me I can face anything." Olivia squeezed his hand once.

"Always, Miss Pope. Always." He squeezed back and they walked hand in hand into the other room.

Michael sat at one of the customer tables in the bakery, while Abby shot him hate filled glares from across the room. It was dark outside but the street in front had cars going in both directions. The sidewalks were mostly empty except for the few walkers that were probably on their way to get something to eat or heading home. The streetlights were on and their glow made the city look more alive somehow. The city that never sleeps was indeed still awake at this hour.

A few minutes later, everyone had their coffee and donuts had been passed around. Fitz glanced at Olivia and saw the determination on her face. There was some anger mixed in there as well. He was proud of her for coming back and standing up to Michael, for wanting answers. She was certainly entitled to them. It would be easier to let it all go and let him go about his life while she went about hers. But someone once said, easier isn't necessarily better. Fitz agreed with them.

This wasn't going to be easy. For Olivia or Michael. Probably not for Fitz either, but at this point he was just the bystander. The friend. The boyfriend. And while this situation affected his life, it in no way came close to how it affected Olivia and Michael. Whatever was said most likely wouldn't be easy to listen to. May not even be easy to understand. But now that the situation itself had been brought to light, the reasoning for it also needed to be brought to light.

Fitz had tried talking to Michael and it had produced no results. So he sat silently, sipping on his coffee, and waited for someone else to attempt to break the steel vault that was Michael's reasoning. Olivia took in the sight of a man who sat before her. Michael had blood stains on his tie and the front of his shirt. He kept one hand on his stomach and winced every so often. She was sure he was in pain. That was too bad. She had been in pain for years over this ordeal. She was done feeling bad for him.

Olivia set her cup down and said, "Michael, we are going to talk about this. I'm done letting you have any more power over my life. So you're going to talk, or Fitz is going to take you back into the alley and beat the shit out of you while we watch." She looked up at Fitz and raised her eyebrows.

'I shouldn't be turned on right now. I shouldn't be turn on right now.' Fitz kept chanting it in his head over and over as he looked at Olivia and tried to look mean. She was probably just saying that as a scare tactic. And while it looked like it wasn't bothering Michael at all, Fitz, on the other hand, was feeling free. And a little bit turned on. Unless he was mistaken, Olivia had had a few glasses of wine before she got here. Her cheeks were rosy and she was talking like she had no fear. It was sexy as hell. Fitz knew this was not the time or place, so he took a big drink of his hot coffee. It scalded his tongue as well as the roof of his mouth, and took his mind completely off of what it had been on.

Michael looked up at Olivia with defeated eyes, He knew she wouldn't let this go. She had been a go getter in college, and apparently that mindset had followed her into adulthood. She would keep asking until he told her what she wanted to know. He really didn't want to say the painful things he had kept so well hidden for years in front of Fitz and the redhead, but he figured he was in no position to ask them to leave.

He pushed his coffee cup away from himself and said, "I owe you an explanation. And I'm prepared to tell you what it is. I'm not really comfortable with the entire world knowing about it, so I'm asking that it doesn't leave this room." When he got head nods from the other three people, Michael continued. "First of all, let me say again, with all the sincerity within me, that I am so very sorry for what I did to you back then. I know that it was wrong. I know that I hurt you both physically and emotionally. And I know you have carried this with you every day ever since it happened. As have I.

Olivia, I want you to understand that anything I say here does not, in any way, excuse what I did. I know that I have wronged you. I know I can't change it. I only hope that once you hear me out, you will stop carrying it. I just want to tell you why it happened. I'm not looking for sympathy because I know I'm not entitled to any." Michael closed his eyes and took a deep breath. In and out.

Abby cut her eyes at Fitz and knit her brow. It seemed a bit theatrical to her. Fitz rolled his eyes and looked back at Michael, intent to listen to whatever he had to say.

"Let me start by saying I was raised in a home where exceptionally high expectations were commonplace. I am an only child, as most of you know. My parents are amazing people and they poured their money and influence, as well as the family name into my upbringing. They wanted nothing but the best for me and the best is exactly what I got.

They drove me to be the best, always. In school, in basketball, hell, even in my dating life. They were everywhere all the time watching to make sure I made wise choices for myself. And when I didn't live up to their standards, they intervened. It was very embarrassing at times. My mother once told a girl in high school that she simply wasn't good enough for me. In her mind, dating led to marriage, and I was not going to marry her so there was no point to continue dating her.

Anyways, Georgetown wasn't even the college I wanted to go to. It was my parent's alma mater, and it wasn't even discussed. It was where I was going to go after high school whether I liked it or not. I didn't even get accepted. I was put on the wait list until my mother drove to the school and had a talk with the dean. She ended up making an obscenely large donation and just like that," He snapped his fingers, "I was off the wait list and making choices for classes.

I felt some small sense of freedom at college. I could make my own decisions, and as long as I made solid A's, they didn't give me any trouble. But when my father made an unexpected four hour drive to Georgetown to check in on me, he discovered that my apartment was a mess, I was taking classes that were sub par, in their minds, and that I was actually working a job. One I liked. All of that was over by the time he left at the end of the day. He made some calls and I found myself in different classes, ones that were more advanced and would set me up for my future career. I was forced to quit my part time job on the phone as my father listened. I was moved into a small dorm room with an OCD, under his father's thumb kinda guy just like myself. It was miserable.

The only thing I did right in their eyes was basketball. They argued some with each other about that too though. Mom thought extracurricular activities would take my mind off my studies, while my dad thought it would make me a better well rounded person. Eventually mom came around, and they went to every game."

Michael looked at the faces of the three people in the room with him. They were shocked. Hell, if he hadn't been the one who lived that life for so long, he would be shocked too. "It was a miserable existence. I was miserable. I was living my life for them, instead of for me. I had accepted that that was my life. I lived it for so long that I felt like I couldn't let them down. That I had to be perfect all the time. It was very stressful. And so I did just that. Eventually, I felt like that was how I should live my life. As a way to thank them for all they had done for me. It sounds so bizarre when I say it out loud, but that is how it was, everyday.

The straw that broke the camel's back was when I proposed to Jessica. She was perfect for me. She came from a good home. Her family was socially accepted by everyone in town, they had money, she was beautiful, a straight A student at Georgetown, as well as popular. I spoke to my parents and told them I wanted to marry her after we had been dating for over a year. They had met her and her family several times during the time we dated and really liked all of them. Our mothers sometimes spent time together without us, plotting. They immediately approved, so my father went out and bought a ring without me. I was a grown man, and I wasn't allowed to pick out my fiancé's engagement ring. He paid for it too, of course. I was beyond pissed off, but there was nothing to do about it. I was so engrained in living for them that the only words I could say was thank you to him. In a twisted way, it seemed almost normal somehow.

I went to see her father earlier that week and asked for his permission to marry his daughter. He was very excited and said yes. I was finally on my way to becoming my own man. In the very back of my mind, hidden deep down, I thought once we were married I would be my own person and wouldn't have to live my life for my parents any more. I loved Jess and she was my way out from my parents control. It was the perfect situation all around. I was on Cloud nine.

I picked her up and took her to the very best restaurant in town, telling her it was for a special occasion. My mother made the reservations and had spoken to the owner to make sure they put the ring in a glass of their finest champagne when the dessert came. As our waiter came out with our desserts, I spotted the ring at the bottom of the champagne flute. When Jessica picked up her glass, I got down on one knee to propose.

She looked at me and realized what I was doing. The words were out of my mouth before she could protest. She pulled me into my seat and then..." Michael started crying. His whole body was shaking from the sobs that were coming from him. This was truly a heart broken man.

"And then she said no." Olivia quietly finished for him.

Fitz put his hand on Michael's shoulder as a small show of support, while he wiped his nose with a napkin Abby hesitantly handed him from across the table. "She said no. She wanted to wait until she graduated and was settled into a job. In my mind that would be years! I couldn't wait years to be my own man!

Anyways, I drove her back to school in silence. I dropped her off at her apartment and called a buddy of mine. His fraternity was having a party and I got an instant invite." Fitz took his hand off of his friend's shoulder at his words and walked around the bakery floor. Close enough to hear the rest of the story, but not too close. He knew what was coming. He wished he could walk out the front door and not hear this part. But he stayed. He looked at Olivia, but she was fidgeting with the edges of her napkin, avoiding eye contact with everyone.

"So I drove to the fraternity house and walked in like I owned the place. I knew several of the guys from the basketball court and they gave me a high five as I walked past. I was going to be free tonight. Free from my parents. From Jessica. From the unbearable never ending control I had to deal with."

Olivia got out of her chair and walked to Fitz as Michael kept talking. She grabbed his hand and laid her head on his shoulder. She too knew what was coming. She didn't want to hear it either, but holding onto Fitz made it a little more bearable. He rubbed circles on her back with his free hand. He smiled into her hair that she remembered his words. That she was confident in the fact that he was here for her.

"So I started chugging alcohol. I hadn't had a drink since I lived in my apartment, so I was going to live it up! I had already had five beers when I saw Olivia at the party.

"We know what happened next. You can stop talking now." Abby said. She didn't want to hear the rest of the story either. She had heard about it first hand from Olivia years ago, and couldn't listen to it again. Abby had watched her friend go to Fitz for strength and support while this asshole droned on. Enough was enough. "We understand that you had a horrible upbringing by parents who demanded perfection from you all the time. We get it. Life was hard for you. Life is hard for everyone, Michael. That doesn't give you the right to do whatever the hell you want to as an escape mechanism. I know you are genuinely hurting over what's been done to you as well as what you yourself have done, but suck it up! No one here feels pity for you. You need to grow some balls, get some therapy, and another ass beating would probably help. It would make me feel a lot better."

Fitz smothered a chuckle with a cough. His admiration for his fiery stalker had grown tremendously. She had just spoken the words he himself wanted to say. Michael had told his side of the story. That was all the talking from him Fitz was going to allow. He cleared his throat and said, "I agree. That's about as far into that nightmare that I want to hear too." He looked at Olivia and asked, "Is there anything that you would like to say? The floor is yours."

Olivia closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. This was her moment to get everything off of her mind where Michael was concerned. She wasn't passing it up. She squared her shoulders, turned around to where he still sat and said, "As a matter of fact, there is."

Abby smiled at her friend's strength and determination. This was the Olivia Pope she knew and loved and worked with. This woman was going to end this right now.

Michael met her eyes and felt the familiar feeling from childhood return. She was going to tell him what he was going to do. There was to be no argument from him. Only obedience. Somehow, this time he felt differently by this demanding face. He knew Olivia needed to speak her mind for her own healing. And that in the end she would gain a small sense of freedom by the opportunity to speak up. He also knew that it would all be accomplished by her, not him.

"My pity for you is gone. And so is my anger. The feeling of constant worry. My need to hide this secret. And my misplaced feeling of trying to protect you for the sake of your friendship with Fitz. All of that is gone. And while I understand that you had to overcome some difficult things in life, as Abby said, we all did. Life is messy and hard. But you make choices and you live with the responsibilities and repercussions of them too. That never happened to you because I never filed a report when it happened. That is on me.

But I'm older and wiser now. And while I can't legally do anything to you over something that happened a very long time ago, I have other options. Whatever happens with your friendship with Fitz is between the two of you. If he wants to continue to be your friend, I'm not going to stop him. He is a grown man just like you are and can make those decisions for himself."

Olivia let go of Fitz's hand and leaned over the opposite end of the table Michael was sitting at. "But as for me, I don't ever want to see you again. You will not take up any more space in my head. I'm done. You can go live your life and do as you please. But you will stay the hell away from me in the process. If you see me on the street, you'd better find another way to go. Because if I so much as see someone who looks like you, I will make a phone call to a certain college and let them know that their golden boy basketball hall of fame star is nothing but an abusive, lying, manipulative, piece of shit! Are we clear?" The last three words were screamed at Michael.

He nodded mutely. Abby pointed at the door and said to him, "That is your cue to leave, asshole." Michael wasted no time leaving the bakery.

Abby was watching Michael leave and got caught off guard by a bear hug from Fitz. "You are my hero. Free donuts for you for life. That's the best offer any stalker of mine ever got." He got a huge grin from her in return.

"You're not so bad yourself. I suppose you are done with me now, Liv and are going to ride off into the sunset with my hero?" Abby teased.

Olivia once again locked hands with the man she was in love with and gave him a smile. "If I don't take him home you'll try to." She hugged her best friend tightly and thanked her for everything. "I'll swing by your place in the morning and get ready for work with you since all of my stuff is already there. See you in the morning."

Fitz stood behind Olivia and watched Abby walk outside and safely get into a taxi. He wrapped his arms around her and asked, "Are you alright?" He turned her around toward him and searched her face.

"I feel so much better. I just want to go home. We can talk there. Ok?" She reached her arms behind his head and played with his hair. He admittedly liked it and it made her feel connected to him. Besides, they were damn great curls. He leaned down and kissed her cheek. Without any words spoken, Olivia smiled to herself and grabbed her purse and Fitz once again locked the door. They drove to Olivia's house. It was late, but she had something important to tell him. And it couldn't wait any longer.


	16. Danielle and Alexander

Danielle and Alexander

Fitz and Olivia walked into her house hand in hand a short while later. Since they had each driven their own cars, there hadn't been any conversation on the way home. It had started to rain on the drive and it seemed to fit the general mood. The quiet car ride had been the longest part of Fitz's day. He was anxious to talk to Olivia to see how she was feeling since they had left the bakery.

She led him to the couch and they both sat down heavily. It had been a long day at work followed by a seemingly endless emotion filled evening. Fitz wrapped his arms around her shoulder and Olivia curled into his side, hugging him tight. This closeness was what she needed. To have this connection with a man who meant the world to her. The words she knew she was so anxious to tell him came into her mind and made her smile. Maybe the rain didn't exactly fit the mood.

"How are you feeling now that it's over and done with?" Fitz asked her. He could still smell the faint fragrance of her shampoo as he spoke over her head. He wondered if she would like to soak in the tub later?

Olivia answered quickly. "I feel...free. I'm glad I went back to face him. I didn't know what I would say or if it would even help, but I needed to do it. I didn't know any of that about his upbringing." She looked up into his face and asked, "Did you?"

"I had no idea." Fitz didn't want to talk about Michael so he veered the subject back to her. "I think you said exactly the right thing. I won't question your courtroom expertise again. After witnessing your powerful fierce side with my own eyes, I even felt compelled to spill all of my secrets too. You're very scary in action, Miss Pope."

Olivia snuggled even closer to him. "That's right I am. And don't you forget it! In all seriousness, I'm so glad you were there. It made all the difference for me to have you there to lean on. I needed it, needed you, and you were there. Just like you said you would be." She smiled at him. Her hand involuntarily reached up to caress his lightly stubbled cheek. "I never would have had the courage to say the things I did without you there. Thank you for that." She cupped the back of his neck and pulled his face down to hers for the sweetest whisper of a kiss.

Fitz knew this was not the time, but he couldn't help himself. "That's the best thank you that you've got? I think you should try again. And really mean it this time."

Olivia giggled and it was like music to his ears. It had been a while since he had heard her laugh. "Maybe later perv. I really need to take a shower and get in my comfy pajamas."

"Later it is." He kissed her forehead and asked, "Do you want to soak in the tub? I could go run you a hot bath?"

She smiled at his thoughtfulness, and then an idea popped into her mind. "That would be great actually. But can I make one request?"

Fitz watched Olivia bat her eyes at him, in an obvious attempt to butter him up for the request. "Let's hear it." He said plainly.

"Can I have lots of bubbles please?" She looked at him from under her fluttering lashes and gave him her best smile.

He looked at her for a few moments and gave in to her. But added one of his own. "I can do that. But I have a request of my own. It's non negotiable though."

Olivia gave him a guarded look. She wondered what he was up to. "Ok. I want to hear your counter offer first before I agree to the terms."

He couldn't help but grin at her. Lawyer Olivia was negotiating with him. He already knew she would say yes. "If you get bubbles, then I get to wash your back. Do we have a deal, Miss Pope?"

That was all he wanted in return? Hell, that was expected with what she had up her sleeve. But she couldn't cave in that easily to him. "Fine. Let's shake on it though. And you have to promise not to do a half assed job. Do you think you can handle that?"

Fitz raised his eyebrows at her. "Have I ever done a half assed job at anything when you are naked and wet?" He had her there and they both knew it.

Olivia licked her lips as various scenes of Fitz doing all sorts of things to her flashed through her mind. She groaned quietly, but he heard her and grinned. Damn him and his quick wit. She cleared her throat and said, "Good point. I'm going to go get my pajamas."

They both stood up and walked into her bedroom. Olivia mindlessly pawed at the clothing in the drawer she had opened while Fitz continued into the bathroom to start running the water. A few minutes later Fitz called her into the bathroom. "Come and see if this is too hot, babe."

Olivia walked into the bathroom and put her hand under the running water, noticing the mountain of bubbles filling the tub with the water. The bathroom was starting to get steamy from the hot water. She smiled to herself. "It's perfect. Thank you. Give me a minute and I'll call you in as soon as I get situated. Ok?" Fitz nodded, pecked her lips once, and walked out.

She twirled the length of her hair around her finger and pinned it up at the back of her head. Noticing the fogged up mirror, she was inspired by a mischievous thought. Once that mission was completed, she took her clothes off and gingerly stepped into the hot bubbly water. Olivia sat down, turned off the water, leaned back, and closed her eyes on a contented sigh. The bubbles tickled the skin on her chin as she slid lower into the water. Her knees felt cold in comparison as they stuck out of the gloriously hot water. She took a few minutes to just enjoy the quiet simplicity of a hot bath.

It was getting too quiet for her to stand anymore. Olivia called out to Fitz. "Babe, can you come in here please?" Things were about to change. She was going to tell him she loved him. Olivia realized she couldn't wait! "FITZ!"

Fitz opened the door and came to sit on the edge of the tub. He slid his thumb across her chin, pulling little white bubbles from her skin with it. "You're awfully bubbly. Are your fingers pruned up yet?"

Olivia pulled her hands up out of the water and looked at them. "Not yet. See?" She turned them towards him and he looked for himself. "I've had second thoughts and want to renegotiate our terms." She smiled sweetly at him.

"Nice try, Miss Pope. But that's not going to happen. We shook hands so that makes it a binding agreement. Besides, you have already gotten your bubbles. You go ahead and turn around and I'll do my best not to half ass the job of washing your back." He rolled his eyes at her. "Turn around please."

"Ok. But if you want to wash my back you have to get in here with me." When his eyes traveled up and down her bubbly body, she knew she had him. "It feels so good to sit in here. The bubbles make it more magical too."

He was sold on the idea. "I don't need bubbles. I make my own magic. But I think I will join you. It's been a hell of a day." He stood up and pulled his shirt over his head as Olivia sat back and enjoyed the show he provided. He toes off his tennis shoes and sat back on the edge of the tub to pull off his socks, jeans, and underwear.

Fitz stepped into the garden tub and sat on the opposite side, facing her. The water was still fairly hot, but not uncomfortably so. He put his hands on each edge of the tub, laid his head back, and let the bubbly water soak into his bones. He looked at the beautiful woman in front of him and simply said, "Hi."

Olivia studied his handsome face for a moment and replied "Hi. It feels good in here huh?"

"Why don't I take more baths?" He wondered aloud. "This is fantastic!"

She simply said "Mmmmm. It is very nice after a trying day. It's even better when someone else draws the water for you." Olivia smiled at him.

Fitz picked his head up from where it was resting. "It must be nice. I wouldn't know." He tried a pouty face, but got his leg pinched for his efforts. "Hey!"

"You know what I wouldn't know? How well you bowl. You owe me a date night!" She smirked at him, but it quickly vanished at his words.

"If you recall, Miss Pope, that wasn't my fault. It was yours. You were the one who forgot to take my sexy ass out on the town for crappy food and cheap beer! Is any of that ringing any bells?" He smiled triumphantly at her.

What was she going to do with him? She reached beside her for his ginormous foot, set it in her lap, and began massaging it. When he groaned blissfully, she knew she was forgiven and continued. After a few minutes, she picked up the other foot and gave it the same treatment. When she was done with the  
second foot, she laid her head back and closed her eyes, just as he was doing. The water wasn't as hot anymore, but still not lukewarm yet either. She intended to enjoy every moment.

Olivia was startled back to consciousness when she felt Fitz pick up her foot. He set it in his lap and massaged it the same way she had done his. He could apply more pressure since his hands were bigger and stronger. It felt divine. She laid her head back and let the man do his thing. After finishing with her other foot a short while later he said, "The water is cooling off. I'm going to wash my hair real quick and then you need to turn around so I can wash your back before we get out."

Olivia watched him wash his curls under the water faucet and then complied by settling herself between his legs. Fitz grabbed a pink luffa hanging from one of the water knobs and lathered it up with the girly smelling stuff in a girly bottle. He rubbed it over her back in repetitive little circles and heard her make happy girly noises. After her back was completely bubbled over, he turned the water on and poured it over her back to rinse it off. "I think we need to get out of this water. It's getting cold." He pulled the plug and waited for her to get up.

"I was just thinking the same thing. Would you mind grabbing my towel please? I set it on the counter." She asked sweetly.

Fitz kissed her on the back, got out of the water, and walked to the counter with her towel in sight. It was pink, naturally. He grabbed the navy one and wrapped it around his waist. As he picked hers up, he looked up into the foggy mirror at his reflection, and a confused look came across his face at what he saw. He turned back to Olivia, who was still sitting in the lukewarm water. "Babe? When was the last time you cleaned your mirror?"

Olivia knew exactly what he was talking about, but instead of telling him it had been a while since she had gotten around to that particular task, she went with a white lie. "Just the other day. Why? Is it dirty?" She was studying him and not the mirror. She knew what he was seeing.

"Well, it's not dirty. But it has words on it." He turned around and pointed at the mirror from over his shoulder. "Did you know that was there?"

"What does it say?" She asked innocently.

Fitz really looked at Olivia. Her face gave nothing away. She was hard to read sometimes. "It says I love you. Where the hell did that come from? I never noticed it before."

"Oh that. I wrote that before I got into the tub." She smiled at him. He still had a confused look on his face, but then realization dawned on him and his grin was contagious.

He held her towel open and walked towards her. Olivia stepped out of the tub and Fitz wrapped the towel around her. And then his arms. "So I guess you kinda like me huh?"

It was no wonder she was in love with him. He always knew when to throw her words back at her. He took care of her. He was ridiculously handsome. Even more so fresh out of the tub. She gave him his words right back. "You have no idea how much I kinda like you, Mr. Grant."

Fitz picked her up and spun her around the fogged up room feeling deliriously happy. He set her down and looked into her eyes for a moment. He captured her lips with his own and pried them open so his tongue could dance with hers. He felt her hands run up his back and end up in his wet curls. She remembered what made him happy. His hands went to her cheek as he tried to somehow pull her closer than she already was. Their breathing was getting heavy and labored and Fitz pulled back and looked into her eyes. "Let's hear it, Miss Pope."

She was bursting at the seams to say it to him out loud, and apparently he was just as eager to hear it. She looked into his eyes and said, "You make me so happy. You take care of me. You stand by me when I'm a crying mess, or need your strength. And I know this is crazy, but I don't care. I love you."

"Do you know how long I have been waiting for you to catch up?" At her confused look her pecked her lips once and grinned. "You give me a reason to smile every day. You are one of the strongest women I have ever known, second only to my mother. You are a good person and always think of others before yourself. I love you so much, Olivia."

They stood there, wrapped up in towels and each other grinning. Olivia broke the silence. "Is this really happening?" She asked.

"Apparently you have finally realized that I am in fact, a damn catch and your heart decided to let your brain know it." He was smug, but he was the happiest he had ever been so it didn't matter. He planned  
on being smug over this for a while. Everyone was going to hear about it from him. He contemplated taking out an ad in the paper. Might be overkill, he thought. But then again...

"You realize what this means, right?" She asked, feeling playful again.

"It means all sorts of things, but to what are you specifically referring?" He was never going to let go of her. And still she wasn't close enough to him somehow.

"You're gonna have to let Danielle go. I'm not having that hooch anywhere near my man." She slipped out of his arms and started backing up. "I'm afraid it's non negotiable." She stuck her tongue out at him and ran into her bedroom.

He was going to enjoy all of the crazy sides of this woman of his. She wanted to be playful. He could be playful too. He chased after her. They were on opposite sides of the bed laughing at each other. "I'm afraid that could be a deal breaker then. She is a valuable asset to my company and provides an invaluable service. You understand?" He wiggled his eyebrows up and down repeatedly.

"I understand how hard it is to keep good assets at work." She thought of the elderly man at work who sometimes made deliveries to her office. "I guess that means I can keep Alexander? Fair is fair, right? He is very efficient." She gave him a smirk and watched him stop all movement.

His eyes went to slits. "I'm sorry. What? Alexander who?" He started stalking his way to her. "You know what? It doesn't even matter who he is. The answer is HELL NO!" When Olivia started laughing uncontrollably he gave her a bland stare. "He's made up too, right babe?"

She wished she had a picture of his face right now. It was priceless. Full of hope that Alexander, the grumpy older delivery man was fake. She stopped laughing at him, but just barely. "Oh no, he's real. And I'm keeping him. He's a very valuable asset. You just said that it's hard to get rid of people like that."

"Olivia." He warned. He had almost made it to where she was standing. She had nowhere to go. He was going to have to talk some sense into her. He watched her eyes dart around the room, looking for a way away from him, but there wasn't one. Except to crawl across the bed. She'd never make it. Still, he knew she would try. He was two steps away from her. She jumped onto the bed and tried to crawl away from him. He was faster. Fitz was always faster.

He grabbed her around the ankle and dragged her towards him. He crawled up her body, straddling her, and pinned her hands over her head with one of his. He looked into her eyes and asked in a painful but sweet voice, "Who is Alexander and what exactly does he do?"

With a straight face full of conviction, Olivia told him. "He sometimes makes deliveries to the office." When Fitz raised his eyebrows at her, she added, "He is about 85 years old and kinda cranky."

"Oh I see. You thought you would try to give me a heart attack over a grumpy old guy who is only there occasionally? You know that's not very nice, right? It's not really protocol to do that to the man you just told I love you to for the first time." She had a little bit of fear in her eyes as he smirked down at her. The punishment fits the crime. I hope you learn from this. It's gonna hurt me more than it's...you know what? I'm going to enjoy it now that I think about it." He laughed.

Fitz brought his index finger up and started wiggling it at her. "Fitz, don't you dare!" She shrieked. He slowly lowered it to her armpit and began tickling her. Olivia laughed in between yelling at him to stop.

He didn't stop though.

She was bucking, trying to get him off of her, but it wasn't working. It had, however, loosened her towel and it came untucked. Fitz stopped tickling her and said, "Ohhh look what you just did." He pulled one side open and groaned at the sight. He wanted her more than life itself right now. She was still writhing beneath him, but for a different reason. She saw the look in his eyes and she wanted him too.

He looked into her eyes with all sincerity and asked, "What the hell was I just doing? I can't remember." He lifted himself off of her body and sat beside her. He pulled the other side of the towel open and licked his lips. It didn't go unnoticed by Olivia.

"You were just about to make love to me." She breathlessly said. She raised her head to him for a kiss but he pulled his head back from her.

He loved all sides of her. Even the sneaky ones. "I don't think that was what I was doing, but I think I can be persuaded in that direction." He straddled her once more and took his time looking over her naked body. "Where to start though?"

This was her chance she thought to herself. "You can start by letting go of my..."

"I don't even hear your fibbing mouth right now, Miss Pope. Let me figure it out myself. I'm certain that I can do that just fine." He leaned down and licked her nipple until it was a hardened pebble. The writhing underneath him resumed and he knew he was on the right path. Fitz took her hardened nipple into his mouth and started sucking as if his life depended on it. The moaning beneath him was music to his ears.

"Fitz, please..." She begged. She didn't even care that she was begging.

He stopped his work and looked up at her face. "Please what? Tell me what you want."

"I want your mouth on me. Now!" Her brown eyes were wild and filled with lust for him.

"My mouth was just on you. If that's not what you want, you're going to have to be more specific."

Why was he doing this to her? She was not embarrassed. She looked into his blue eyes, that were just as wild as hers. "I want you to let go of my hands so that I can grab fistfuls of your curly hair while you work that magical mouth of yours a little further south on my body. And I want it RIGHT NOW!"

"Yes ma'am!" Fitz released her hands and wasted no time settling himself between her thighs, pushing her legs open wide, and setting his tongue into motion. He heard Olivia scream as she held onto his hair. She was practically pulling it out by the roots but he didn't care. He brought her to completion fairly quickly and still she writhed and moaned and whimpered his name.

She was on the brink of her second orgasm when Fitz lifted his head and said, "Let me know if I'm half assing this." Olivia grabbed his hair tighter and pushed his head back to where she desperately wanted it. After feeling her body rock for a few moments and finally stilling, Fitz crawled up her body and to the left of it. He pulled open the top drawer of her nightstand and pulled out a condom.

"Just make yourself at home, Mister." She said sarcastically.

"Is there a problem? I can go home if you'd rather?" He teased.

Olivia wrapped her arms and legs around him tightly. "Do you really think I'd let you go anywhere?" When he was hovered back over her, she smiled at him and said, "I love you."

Fitz rolled the condom over his hard length and lined himself up with her center. He slowly pushed himself into her, looked into her eyes, and said, "I love you more than you could ever know."

He set a slow pace and it felt like medicine to Olivia's soul. The fast and determined pace had it's place, but this was what she needed. A slower rate so they could enjoy each other, enjoy the love they both felt, without rushing. She reached up and touched his cheek, bringing his face down to hers. Her yielding mouth opened for his immediately upon contact. Fitz groaned into her mouth as her hands went back to their home, in his curls. One of his hands cupped her cheek as his tongue continued it's happy assault on her mouth. The kiss started out slow to match the pace their bodies had already set. His lips were soft and never stayed still, which was fine with Olivia. She wanted to devour him. She could never get enough of him or be close enough to him in these moments. The intense kissing was causing the pace of their bodies to quicken as well. Their breathing became labored and Fitz broke away from her mouth and said through heavy breathing, "Say it again."

Olivia's face contorted. She was nearing her third orgasm, but she smiled at him through the pleasure, curled her face into his hand, and pressed a kiss into his palm. She looked back into his intense blue eyes and panted, "I love you." And then she let go.

Fitz could spend the rest of his life watching her face in the midst of climax and never tire of it. She was beautiful. She was in love with him. And that meant everything to him. His brain was definitely not functioning on all cylinders right now, but he was enough in his right mind to know he was going to marry her one day. The thought floated out of his mind as quickly as it entered. He was too busy at the moment to spend much time thinking on that.

The heat their bodies were generating was like fire and they both wanted to fan the flames. Fitz grabbed Olivia by the waist and rolled them over so she was on top of him. He let her set whatever pace she wanted like this. He just watched her, and kept up. Olivia set her hands on his huge thighs and looked down at him. She licked her lips and made the same request of him. "Tell me, babe."

Fitz sat up and grabbed a handful of her ass, pulling her closer and further onto him. He ran his tongue over her nipple, making his way up to her mouth. He kissed her feverishly, his tongue never still inside her mouth. She moaned his name as he watched her face, their bodies still moving in time. "I love you."

She put her hand on his chest and pushed him back down onto the bed. She planted her feet on the outside of his thighs, her hands on his chest, squatted over him, and lifted and lowered her lower body over his at lightening speed. Fitz lost all thought and reveled in the feeling she was bringing to his body. He cursed loudly and grabbed her hips in some effort to participate. His toes were curled tightly and a moment later he fell off the edge of the world in a panting, groaning, boneless shell of a man.

Olivia fell onto his chest with a thud and tried to remember how to breathe. It was useless. She was never moving from this spot. She couldn't even if she wanted to. She had no strength and no will. Fitz rolled to his side slightly, depositing her beside him. He put his arm around her and she curled into him with her hand on his chest, still breathing heavily. The last thing she remembered was hearing Fitz say, "I love you" over and over


	17. You're Cute

**Just a quick note to let you all know that I am currently at my daughter & son in law's house for the next week. She just gave birth to her second baby on Wednesday. Please forgive me if my next update isn't on time, as I am here helping out with her 2 1/2 year old and newborn. They live 5 hours away from us, so I am spending as much time as possible with the kids. Once I am settled back home, I'll do my best to make it up to you. There may not even be a delay. You never know what inspiration will come at a 2 am feeding, but this is just in case there is one. Merry Christmas!**

You're Cute

With her eyes still closed, Olivia stretched her tiny content body. She felt around the bed in the spot beside her for the warm man she expected to be there. Instead she felt cold sheets. She opened her bleary eyes to slits and looked around her bedroom. No one was there. She wondered where Fitz had disappeared off to?

The clock on the nightstand read 5:26. She instantly felt hatred for the red numbers staring back at her. Her first alarm would go off in four minutes. She turned it off and stuck her tongue out at the stupid machine. The second alarm would chime in nineteen minutes. She laid back down on the bed, pulled the blankets up to her chin, and closed her eyes, even if only for nineteen more minutes. Olivia had just fallen back to sleep when she felt a mouth on her neck, kissing it.

Keeping her eyes closed, she leaned her head further away from the busy mouth, giving it more access to her neck. She had forgotten that Fitz was a morning person. She could hate him for that. But it was too late. She had already professed her love for him. She reached up to his neck and felt those soft curls she loved so much. "Mmmmmm, Alexander. Do you have a package for me this morning?" She asked sensually.

Fitz chuckled at her sad attempt at humor. "If you want his grumpy old package, have at it. I, however, brought you something hot and tasty."

Olivia sat up instantly and saw the tray he had set at the end of the bed. "What's that, babe?" She asked sweetly as she dove for it and tried to see what it was. He scooped her up in his arms and set her back at the head of the bed.

"Don't be so grab happy, Miss Pope! It's breakfast. But it's not any OLD breakfast." He grinned when she exclaimed a humorless HA. "It's special."

"What's so special about it? Did you make eggs from the golden goose or something?" She was funnier in the morning than she remembered.

Fitz rolled his eyes at her. "You don't know what today is do you?"

"Nope." She thought for a moment and then exclaimed. "Wait! It's Wednesday. What's so special about that?"

"Please tell me you're not one of those rare females that can't keep up with important dates on the calendar? That you are messing with me." When he got no answer from her, he muttered, "Seriously?"

He was so cute when he was frustrated, she thought. "Are you talking about the fact that one week ago today your life changed for the better when I walked into the dry cleaners and shamelessly flirted with you? Is that what you're talking about?"

He grinned at her. "That's my girl." He leaned down and gave her a peck on the lips. "So, what do you want to do tonight to celebrate?"

"I thought I would cook us dinner. What do you think about that?" When Fitz avoided eye contact with her and said nothing, she frowned. "What the hell is wrong with that plan?"

Don't say it out loud, he told himself. He pressed his lips firmly together in a thin line to prevent the words from falling out. Olivia simply stared at him expectantly.

"Well?" She asked impatiently.

"Ummm, how do I say this without sounding like a jerk?" There really wasn't a way. He'd just say it. But he closed his eyes tightly first. "I didn't think you knew how to cook." He opened one eye and looked at her. She looked...embarrassed.

"Well, I would have had it delivered! That counts, right?" She folded her arms across her chest and tried to be pouty. It was the most adorable thing Fitz had ever seen.

He scooped her up once again and set her on his lap. How anyone hadn't already taken her off the market was beyond his understanding. But now it was too damn bad for those idiots. She was his and he was keeping her. "I have a plan, but I want to ask you something first. Don't get mad. Ok?"

Whenever someone asked you not to get mad before telling you something, that almost always meant you were going to get mad. She waited for it.

"This is just an idea and not an insult so please don't take it that way. But. What do you think of the idea of me giving you a few cooking lessons? Nothing difficult or mind blowing. Easy stuff. I'll even teach you how to bake some of the simpler things I make at the bakery if you want? What do you think?" He hoped he hadn't hurt her feelings.

The thoughts Olivia had of Fitz days ago about being covered in flour ran through her mind. Or was it sugar? She couldn't remember. That seemed like a long time ago. Not days. So many things had happened since then. And now he was offering cooking lessons. Maybe she would actually get to see him covered in flour or sugar. She might burn the bakery down, but seeing flour on his ass would make it worth it, right? And now that he was all hers, she could touch that flour covered ass. The decision was simple. "That could be fun. But what are we going to do tonight since my cooking skills seem to be lacking?"

He gave her a smacking kiss and exclaimed, "Bowling! With beer and nachos and an ass kicking for you! Are you up for it? I'd understand if you aren't..."

"Oh Hell yes, Mister! I am going to make you regret taking me bowling!" She jumped off his lap and did a crazy little dance around her room.

God, he loved her crazy side too. And even though the story behind it was still a little bit weird, he was glad that his favorite nickname was back. "We'll see about that, Miss Pope. Eat your breakfast, big talker."

She pulled the lid off the tray and saw pancakes and fruit. She ripped a piece off one of the pancakes and stuffed it into her mouth. "After I'm done eating I'm going to head over to Abby's to get ready for work."

Fitz stood in front of her and pulled her close so they were pelvis to pelvis and eye to eye. "Do you have any plans for Friday?"

Olivia mentally went through her calendar. Realization came a moment later. "Friday is the fourth. The office is closed, so I'll be home all day. Do you have plans?"

"Actually, I do. July fourth is a busy day for me. I have an open house at the bakery every year. Everyone in town goes to watch fireworks, but before it gets dark they walk around the city. And even though we are already open that day, I invite families with small kids to come in and decorate cupcakes. It's always a hit because it helps kill time until it gets dark and it keeps the kids entertained so mom and dad don't lose their minds waiting. I could use some extra hands, if you want to help?"

She just looked at him with pure adoration. She wondered again how she had gotten so lucky to call him hers? She supposed that question would constantly pass through her mind at times like this. "What a great idea! That sounds really fun. I'd love to help out."

"Yea? Great! And when we're done cleaning up, we can go down to the water and watch the fireworks together if you want?" Fitz was excited to have her with him on Friday. It would be a fun day interacting with parents and children. And he'd see her creative side too. He wondered if she was a kid person? Had she ever even been around kids? He certainly didn't know all of her friends yet, but he couldn't recall any mention of them in their conversations. He shook the thought out of his mind. "I'll meet you back here later this afternoon. Have a good day and text me something interesting if you find yourself with some down time." He grinned at her mischievously and smacked her ass. "I love you."

"Go take a shower, perv! I love you." She kissed his lips and added, "I'll do my best."

Fitz walked into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him wondering just how good she could be at bowling?

It had been a busy day at the office for Olivia. She had meetings with clients, meetings with the partners, a crappy salad at her desk, followed by lots of paperwork. Sometime around four thirty, Abby and Yvonne shuffled into her office and sat down in empty plush chairs. Olivia was elbow deep in a brief she was reading and didn't know they were there. Until Yvonne cleared her throat. Loudly.

Olivia looked up, surprised, and said, "How long have you two been in here?"

"We just got here. Whatcha doing there?" Abby asked.

Olivia smiled at her friends. "It's called work. And since I haven't seen the two of you all day, I'm assuming both of you got lots of it done today too?"

"You know what they say about assuming?" Yvonne gave her boss a sweet smile in return. Abby chuckled at her co-hort and the two women continued looking at Olivia.

"Don't encourage her, Abby. It just makes things worse." She closed the brief and clasped her hands together. "To what do I owe the surprise visit at the end of the day?"

Yvonne settled into her seat and said, "We just thought we'd pop in and see how you've been? Like you said, it's the end of the day, and you've been real busy."

"Really?" Olivia asked surprised.

"No, not really." Yvonne began. "Abby told me some of the boring stuff that happened at the bakery late last night. She wouldn't tell me specifics, but she said Fitz put some guy in the hospital from beating him half to death. I never would have thought he had that in him." Yvonne recalled meeting Fitz in the office and a visual of his body floated in her head. She let out a small groan of satisfaction at the thought. "He clearly has the upper body strength for it though. With thirty minutes to kill, a story about that should just about cover it."

Olivia could see in her peripheral vision that Abby was grinning like a fool. She cleared her throat and replied, "Clearly. If you already know what boring things happened, what is there for me to tell you?"

Her assistant breathed in loudly, and exhaled even louder. "I want to know what happened after all that? I know something did, but Abby is either really good at playing dumb, or she doesn't know. I'm going with the latter. So what happened? Tell me all about it. I mean, I wasn't there. So I have no idea what actually went down."

Thirty minutes until she could leave and meet Fitz to go bowling. She could kill it with a story, she supposed. Olivia hadn't told Abby what had happened at her house earlier that morning, because she wanted to tell Abby and Yvonne together at the same time. But it hadn't worked out with her busy schedule. Neither had sending Fitz anything pervy. She figured why the hell not tell them?

"First of all, Fitz didn't put anyone in the hospital. Abby tends to exaggerate things, and while that makes for a better story, don't ask her, if you want the truth about my private life." Olivia stated.

"Mmmmkay. Now that that's settled, give me the details." Yvonne stated.

"After we left the bakery we went to my house and I told him I loved him. That's all. Let's get back to work." She smiled at them.

"What the hell, Liv?" Abby shrieked. "You didn't tell me that this morning when we were getting ready for work!"

"We were having too much fun listening to you talk about Fitz's ass and how you're his new hero." Olivia said with an eye roll.

Abby grinned like the superior queen she felt like. Yvonne gave Olivia a sappy grin and said, "Awwww. You told him you love him? Of course you did. I mean, look at him. He's gorgeous. I bet he's great in bed too, isn't he? I'm so jealous. When is he coming to visit us again?"

"That's a lot of questions, Yvonne. But to answer them, yes I did. YES he is. And...I'll have to ask him." Olivia answered sweetly.

"You really didn't need to answer the second question." Yvonne muttered. It was followed by a whispered, "Bitch" which was halfheartedly smothered by a fake cough.

"Oh my gosh, you're in love with him? That's amazing, Liv. I'm so happy for you. I told you that you might be done looking for a while. Did I call it or what? Man, I'm good!" Abby boasted. She got up out of her chair and gave her friend a big hug.

"Yea. Happy. So how'd you tell him?" Yvonne inquired in a serious tone.

After Abby had taken her seat again, Olivia told them about how she had written the message on the bathroom mirror for Fitz to find. She left out what happened afterwards but the women seemed too enthralled by her creativity to care about anything they might possibly be missing.

"That's so romantic." Abby sighed. "I'm really happy for you, Liv."

"Thanks, Abby." She cut her eyes at Yvonne and said, "This bitch is very happy."

"We need to go out and celebrate!" Abby exclaimed. "Let's get dolled up and hit the town! It'll be like old times."

"I can't do it tonight. I have a hot date! We are going bowling, and Fitz thinks he's going to win." Excited was an understatement.

"Bowling? And you're excited about that?" Yvonne wondered aloud.

"You didn't tell him, did you?" Abby was grinning at her friend. When Olivia shook her head, Abby snorted.

"I don't get it. What are you not telling that perfect unicorn of a man?" Yvonne demanded. "Don't start your relationship off with secrets!"

Olivia rolled her eyes dramatically. "I knew this would happen! I knew once the two of you met him, you'd take his side on everything!"

"Calm down, Yvonne." Abby tried.

"NO! Don't tell me to calm down!" Yvonne pointed her finger at her boss and continued on a rant. "She has been flirting with everything with a pulse for years. Now she finally has the real thing. But she is keeping secrets from him? And that's ok with you? Have both of you lost your minds?"

"Wow. Tell us how you really feel, Yvonne." Olivia chuckled.

"Yvonne, chill the hell out. The reason it's ok is because Olivia is really good at bowling. Her parents took her almost every weekend from the time she was a kid. She bowled her first perfect game when she was seventeen. Fitz isn't gonna know what hit his sexy ass." Abby wished Stephen would be home so she could drag him out bowling to watch the fun.

"Oh. Ok. That's fine, I guess." Was all she said.

"Anyways, I wanted to ask you two something. Do either of you have plans for Friday? I know how you could spend some extra time with a certain sexy ass man.."

"Say no more. Whatever it is, I'm in." Yvonne was quick to reply.

Abby had a different approach. "I'm sure Fitz is going to need his hero there. What are we talking about? Bathing him? Rubbing him down with..."

"Keep it in your pants, Abby. The bakery apparently has an open house every fourth of July and Fitz invites families in so their kids can decorate cupcakes. Isn't that cute? He asked me if I wanted to help with it this morning. I thought I'd be generous and see if the two of you wanted to help out too? What do you think?" Olivia knew they would be at the bakery before even she showed up on Friday.

"I'll have to check my calendar." Yvonne said without blinking or moving. "Looks like I'm free."

"What about you, Abby?" Olivia asked.

"I'm not sure yet. Stephen is coming back home from his business trip on Friday, so I might be picking him up from the airport and spending the day with him. I'll let you know though." Abby said.

"More for me," Yvonne smirked.

"Ok, you two need to get out of here. I've got to go home, change my clothes, and teach my man how to be a good loser." The three women stood up and gave her high fives on the way out of her office.

Back at her house, Olivia changed into a pair of tight fitting jeans and a white v neck t-shirt. She debated whether to take her bowling bag containing her ball and shoes, but thought the element of surprise would be better played out if he had no idea of her skills at all. It would also make watching his face fall that much more fun when she got her first strike.

Fitz walked in her front door as she was adding water to the flowers he had brought a few days ago. He walked to where she stood and tried to slip his hands into the back pockets of her jeans. It wasn't going to happen. Her jeans were too damn tight. He settled for grabbing two handfuls of her ass and pulling her close. Olivia put her hands on his chest and looked up into his eyes. "How was your day?"

Her ass felt great in his big hands and he kneaded it thoroughly. He wished she didn't have jeans on though. He wanted her naked. He looked over her shoulder at the couch and wondered things. It was almost enough to make him cancel tonight. Almost.

Who the hell was he kidding? He had been looking forward to this all day long. He had gotten a lot done at the bakery, but he had watched the clock every chance he got. His girl was going to learn a thing or two tonight. He couldn't wait to see her face. Fitz could almost taste the victory already. "It was great. How was yours?"

"It will be better once you give me a kiss." Her hands slid up his firm chest and around his neck as she tilted her head to the right. His left hand reluctantly moved from her ass to the back of her head pulling her even closer. He opened his mouth and devoured hers aggressively. His tongue was everywhere in an instant and it made Olivia's breath hitch. Thoughts of his tongue being in other places brought a needy moan from her mouth, and it drove Fitz on.

He was re-thinking the couch idea and with one eye open, he started walking her backwards toward it as he kissed her. He could be quick. There was no way in hell he was missing this date night. His mouth was still assaulting hers with a fierce vigor, and they both were breathless and clawing at each other, trying to still somehow get closer. Just as he reached the sofa, his hand moved up to her back in an effort to ease her down onto it. But Olivia's eyes flew open and she realized what he was up to. She stepped back, put her hand firmly on his chest to keep him away, and tried to remember how to breathe on her own. Fitz just watched her like a hawk eyeing it's prey. Her lips were swollen. Her eyes were filled with lust for him. Her breasts were heaving as she drew air into her lungs. Fitz wanted her badly. He knew he could change her mind about sex on the sofa. He started moving towards her.

In an instant, her eyes were clearer and her heavy breathing stopped. Her voice was all authority now. "If you think for one minute that you are going to get out of this date again, you are sadly mistaken, Mister. You are taking me out. You are going to have a good time. And if you don't pout from the ass whoopin I am going to give you, sex will most definitely end the evening. Do you think you can handle all that?"

Fitz was turned on even more now. He knew something she didn't. She would find out soon enough, but until that happened, he'd let her think her pretty thoughts of control. Olivia in control. His mind wandered again to a filthy place and he looked at her body up and down with hooded eyes and licked his lips.

Olivia knew that look on his face. She didn't have very long before going out was no longer an option. She grabbed his hand and pulled him out the door. Raging hard on and all. She pushed him into her car and walked around to the drivers seat. "I'm going to need you to behave yourself while we're in public. And try not to cry later." She winked at him as he rolled his eyes.

The bowling alley smelled like air freshener and stale popcorn. There were kids running around parentless everywhere, screaming and eating everything imaginable. Fitz smiled at them as they enjoyed their freedom while their parents bowled a game somewhere nearby. The sound of bowling balls crashing and sliding down the lanes brought back memories for both Olivia and Fitz.

They got their ugly bowling shoes from the man behind the counter and proceeded to lane nineteen hand in hand. Olivia put her shoes on while Fitz typed their names into the machine. He purposefully put Olivia's in first for multiple reasons. Ladies first. He wanted to see what she could do. He wanted to watch her ass. There were other reasons, but those were the top three. Fitz put his shoes on while Olivia went in search of a bowling ball. He caught up with her and together they brought the brightly colored balls back to their lane.

"Obviously you've done this before, since you chose this for date night. So let's see what you got, Miss Pope." Fitz flirted as he watched her step up closer to the throw line. "And please. Take your time getting settled up there before you throw the ball. The view from here is spectacular."

Olivia wiggled her ass back and forth as she looked at him from over her shoulder. His enjoyment would be short lived she thought to herself. She stood where she needed to be, pulled the ball back, swung it forward level to her leg, and let it fly. She watched at the ball sailed down the shiny wooden lane and crashed into nine pins. Feeling satisfied with that for her first throw in a few years, she turned around expecting to see shock on his face. He merely smiled at her. "Not bad," He said. "Maybe you can get that pesky last one this time though."

Fitz had skipped shock and went straight for trash talking. She could deal with that. His turn was coming up and she would see what she was dealing with. As if he could do any better? As she picked up her ball once again, she remembered her weapon. His weapon rather. She sashayed up to the line swinging her hips as she went. She could feel his eyes on her ass boring a hole into her jeans. She turned around, smiled at him, and said, "Could you come show me how I can throw the ball so I might have a better chance at hitting that last one? It's been a while since I've played."

He almost broke his neck getting to her. He stood behind her and put his hand on her hip. "You've got a good stance, but you need to loosen up a little bit on your release. You're kind of tense. I mean, that was a great throw, but like you said, it's been a while, so you just need a quick refresher. Let me show you." Fitz walked her through a 'better release' as Olivia tried to appear interested.

When he was finished yammering, he went back to his seat and she threw the ball with a mixture of what he had just said and what she had always done. It worked and she knocked the lone pin over. Olivia ran to him and jumped into his arms thanking him for the help. Of course he patted her ass as his own way of saying you're welcome and pecked her lips.

It was his turn. Fitz picked up his ball and walked toward the black throw line. He had a much wilder throw than she did, but he hit eight pins from it and beamed like a kid. On his second throw he knocked only one pin down. He walked back to his seat with a grin. This could be a close game she thought. Time to destroy him.

On her second attempt, Olivia pulled no punches, and easily got a strike. As she was returning to her seat, an older woman walked by. She stopped and said, "Olivia? It's so good to see you back here. It's been a while!"

"Oh my gosh! Lori! It's been ages! How are you?" She asked excitedly. The two women made small talk and Fitz came to stand next to Olivia a few moments later. She introduced him to the owner of the bowling alley as her boyfriend.

"Nice to meet you, Fitz. Are you much of a bowler?" Lori asked.

"I played a good bit as a teenager. Nothing serious though. More for fun." He explained.

"You have a lot of catching up to do with this one then," Lori explained on a chuckle, as she jerked her thumb in Olivia's direction.

Fitz put his arm around Olivia's waist and said pridefully, "She's pretty good. Better now that I have given her some pointers."

Lori and Olivia exchanged mischievous grins as Fitz watched them. "Pointers huh? You're cute. I'll give you that. But how do you explain that over there?" Lori pointed at a red banner that hung on the wall on the opposite side of the huge room near lane one. It read

State Champion

Olivia Pope

2006

The two women chuckled as they watched Fitz read the words on the banner. He turned to her grinning and said, "You are just full of wonderful surprises aren't you, Miss Pope?"

A few hours, and three games later, the two of them turned in their rented shoes and put their own back on their feet. Fitz was dragging his ass, not ready to admit defeat. There was no denying it though. She had won fair and square. She had also hustled him. He wouldn't forget that any time soon either.

As they made their way to the front door, Olivia grabbed his hand and pulled him to a stop. Victory was so sweet, but she couldn't savor it because his cute face was pouting. It was time to lighten the mood a little. "I brought a surprise for you with me tonight. But you have to give me a really good hug before I will give it to you.

Olivia watched his face light up. Yea, guys were suckers for surprises. Fitz pulled her body flush with his, and wrapped his arms around her. He leaned down and tucked his face into the crook of her neck, smelling her hair in the process. Her hands went around his big shoulders. He held onto her for several moments and whispered contentedly in her ear, "I love you." She had won the game, but he was holding the real prize. Besides, there was always next time.

After a few moments, Olivia pulled away from him and said, "There's something in my pocket for you."

"Babe, nothing else on God's green earth is going to fit in those jeans. Trust me on that." He was serious.

She rolled her eyes at him, tapped the front of her jeans, and said, "If you don't want it, that's fine. But I do have something for you in my front pocket."

He eyed her questioningly. "Let's have it."

Olivia struggled to slid her hand into her pocket, and Fitz's smirk didn't go unnoticed by her as she did so. She pulled out a wad of green and handed it to him. She started giggling and said, "These are tickets you get for playing the video games here. You cash them in for prizes. I thought it might help ease your wounded male pride."

Fitz gave her a bland stare and then looked over into the display case filled with redeemable prizes. He grinned at her and said, "I have my eye on that pink fuzzy hockey stick. I know a great place for it at the bakery." He slapped her ass once and they walked over to get it.


	18. Skill Level - Expert

**Thank you for your sweet and thoughtful well wishes in your reviews for the addition to our family. It was a blissful time for me to stay and help out. I hope each of you had a wonderful Christmas and fabulous New Years. Let's get to the cuteness...**

Skill Level - Expert

Friday morning came quickly. Olivia showered and dressed in a red floral sundress, and pinned her hair up so it would be off of her neck in the July heat. She and the girls had arranged to arrive at the bakery earlier than Fitz needed them, so they could have brunch there. The three of them met outside the door at eleven o'clock.

The bakery was already bustling with activity. Looking in the window, they could see lots of people having something to eat or enjoying a cool drink in the air conditioning from the already too hot temperature outside. It was a sea of red, white, and blue clothing and decorations, and the three women walked inside and added to the patriotic color scheme.

They stepped into the line of people waiting to be served and chatted amongst themselves. A grin spread across Abby's face seconds before two large hands wrapped around her tiny friend's waist from behind. Olivia could smell his cologne mixed with fried dough and sugar. As her friends watched she held onto his forearms without turning around and said, "Wow! I have heard about the customer service at this place, but even the stories aren't as good as experiencing it first hand. Whose next?"

"Ohmygod I am!" Yvonne screeched a little too loudly. When Fitz chuckled at her from behind Olivia, she dreamily said, "There's that laugh."

Fitz went to Yvonne and with raised eyebrows said, "One hug. No melting to the floor. Can you handle it?"

Yvonne flung her arms open and said, "I can't promise that, but let's test it out." As Fitz gave her a warm hug she looked over his shoulder at the other two women and mouthed 'holy shit!' And pretended to grab his ass.

"Ok! That's enough. You're gonna make it worse, babe." Olivia warned.

"Hey, Abby!" Fitz said as he flung his arm affectionately around her shoulder. "I didn't think you'd make it today? Olivia said something about you having to go to the airport?"

Abby grinned at him but was much cooler than Yvonne had been. She was his hero after all. And heroes didn't act goofy. Damn, he smelled good. She wanted to lick his neck, but no one had to know that. "I've got to pick up my fiancé at two. But I figured free donuts for brunch is pretty important too."

"You're engaged? Damn it, Red. Who am I gonna date when Olivia kicks me to the curb?" Fitz teased.

"Yea, maybe you don't talk to them any more today. Ok?" Olivia had seen the look on her friend's face and knew thoughts of burning Stephen's stuff today had momentarily floated through Abby's mind. "Besides, no one is getting kicked anywhere any time soon. She walked back into his arms and pecked his lips. "We want food please. Then we will work."

Fitz looked at all three women and smiled. "That seems reasonable. Follow me." He held Olivia's hand as he led them to the back of the bakery. There were several people back there mixing, baking, icing, and all manner of other things at what looked like warp speed. Olivia wondered if she and her friends would just be in the way? They had no idea what they were doing, and everyone here was working like a well oiled machine.

The four of them came to a stop at a door. Fitz turned to them and said in a warning tone, "This is my office. Please don't think less of me at whatever you see in there." He winked at each of them causing mild heart palpitations in them all.

As they walked through the door, the first thing they spotted was a basketball rim and net on the wall with an empty trashcan on the floor underneath. There were several foam balls in the can. A dart board hung on one of the walls and a foosball table sat in a corner. None of it was dusty. The stupid pink fuzzy hockey stick that he had gotten at the bowling alley two days before sat in yet another corner. A small desk sat in the center of the room and had papers haphazardly strewn across the top of it. A lone plastic table sat in another corner of the room with folding chairs leaned up against the wall nearby.

All three women looked around the room in wonder and Abby turned to Fitz and stated. "This is a man cave." At his grin she said, "It's disguised as an office, but this most definitely is a man cave. It's perfect!"

Fitz smiled at Abby's appreciation for his work space. He left the room to get the three women something to eat. While he was gone, the women unfolded the chairs and sat at the table. He returned a few minutes later with three plates loaded down with various things like muffins, scones, donuts, and some fruit. A younger man followed behind him carrying three cups of coffee and a pitcher of orange juice. Fitz introduced him as Jason to them. He shook Olivia and Abby's hands and then he got to Yvonne.

Apparently Yvonne's filter was off again today because as she shook Jason's hand she asked, "Is it a job requirement for everyone who works here to be hot?"

Jason never missed a beat. He smiled at her and smoothly replied. "It is. That must be why you were asked to help out today."

Abby and Olivia sent each other raised eyebrows from across the table. This could be an interesting development to watch today. "I'll leave you to your brunch, but don't waste too much time in here. There's a lot of work to be done. I expect to see some hustle today."

When Fitz had walked out the door, Yvonne asked Olivia, "Damn! He's sexy when he's being bossy. How do you live when he's around?"

Olivia laughed wholeheartedly at her friend. "It's not easy, let me tell ya." They ate their meal and tried to guess what Fitz would have each of them doing.

After they were finished, the three of them threw their trash away and went in search of Fitz for work orders. Jason was decorating cinnamon rolls with patriotic colored icing and looked up when he saw them exit his bosses office. He called out, "Yvonne. Hey. Fitz said you'd be working with me today, if that's ok with you?"

She gave him her best smile. "That's fine with me. What are we doing exactly?"

"We are icing cinnamon rolls for the display case. And when we are done with that, we are going to cut cookies into star shapes. Sound fun?" Jason asked. At her nod, he added, "We'll get you an official Sweet Spot apron after you wash your hands. You can even pick out whatever color you want. Deal?"

"That sounds like fun and not work. Let's do this." She walked towards the sink while Olivia and Abby continued the search for Fitz.

Abby pointed a finger over her shoulder and said, "You've got to keep me posted on that today! They are very flirty with each other. I'm not sure Jason can handle her."

Olivia spotted Fitz talking to a family of four and watched him as she replied to Abby. "She'll be the one with a story on Monday. Be prepared to annoy the hell out of her with me."

Fitz's eyes caught Olivia's in the middle of his sentence. He smiled briefly at her and then turned his full attention back to the family, explaining that cupcake decoration would start at two o'clock. He was talking to the parents, but somehow connected to the kids as well, Olivia noticed. She waited until he was done speaking to them and then walked over to him with Abby in tow.

"Cute family. What would you like for us to do, boss?" Olivia asked sarcastically.

Fitz looked around the bakery to see where help was needed. The counter was getting bombarded with customers, so he walked Olivia behind it and introduced her to the staff member running around like a chicken with her head cut off. "This is Charlotte. She's my right hand woman here at the bakery. I'd be lost without her." The two females shook hands quickly. "This is Olivia. She's going to help you out. If you two need anything just let me know or grab someone from the back."

"Nice to meet you, Olivia. If you will fill the orders, I'll run the register. Are you comfortable with that?" Charlotte asked.

"Yea. That sounds great." Olivia replied cheerfully. She was thankful she wasn't working in the back room. She really felt like she would have gotten lost in that fast paced world.

The two women were completely caught up in no time, filling all the orders and eliminating the waiting line. Olivia wiped down the counter as Yvonne and Jason brought a new batch of sweets from the back and refilled the display case. Yvonne was smitten. It was all over her face. Olivia could not wait to hear all about her 'training' with Jason.

Everything was clean and they were waiting for the next wave of hungry customers when Fitz and Abby came out. Abby waited at the front door as Fitz walked to Olivia and said to her and Charlotte, "Abby and I are heading out for a bit. We'll be back soon." He leaned in to kiss her cheek.

"Why isn't Abby doing manual labor like Yvonne and I?" Olivia cut her eyes at her friend and sensed something was up between her and her boyfriend.

"You have such a suspicious mind, Miss Pope." He kissed her nose and added, "Besides, you are not overworked. Yet. Take care of her, Charlotte. And keep her busy. We'll be back soon." Fitz held the door open for Abby and the two of them disappeared around the corner.

Charlotte grinned at Olivia. There were no customers in line, so she took a few moments to talk with the woman her boss was obviously in love with. "Ignore him. I do, most of the time. I think it's why we get along so well here." The two women chuckled.

"Yes! Exactly! I've learned when to tune him out. He is so quick witted it's hard to keep up sometimes though. How long have you been putting up with him here?" Olivia asked.

"I've been here almost six years. He hired me when I desperately needed a job and had looked everywhere. I don't think he even needed me, but he has a really big heart, as I'm sure you already know." Charlotte recalled with a smile. "I'm a single mom, and I moved me and my eleven year old son to New York after I divorced my husband. We needed a change of scenery from North Carolina. But I couldn't find work. It was really bad for a few weeks.

I came in here one day to get a cup of coffee while I looked over the help wanted section of the paper. It was raining outside and this place was new so not many customers were in here. Fitz came by to refill my coffee and noticed what I was looking at. He sat down in the seat across from me and started asking me questions about my job history. It wasn't pretty, because I had been a stay at home mom ever since Dylan had been born. The moment he heard that I had a son seemed to make a difference to him somehow. Of course, now I know why. Thirty minutes later, he asked if I wanted to work here. And I've been here ever since. He's a really good guy with a heart of gold."

Olivia liked Charlotte immediately. She was someone who made you feel comfortable around her. She felt like that old friend you only see a few times a year, but immediately reconnect with as if no time has passed at all. "That is amazing. I know Fitz has a soft spot for kids. He is basically a big kid himself, so that explains it. I think it's great that it worked out so well for both you and your son."

"You know, I've never thought of it that way, but you're absolutely right. He is a big kid. It definitely explains his office playroom." Charlotte said with a smile.

"Right!" Olivia exclaimed.

"How long have you been a lawyer?" Charlotte asked. "Fitz told me. I hope that's ok?"

Olivia waved the last question away with a hand gesture. "Of course. I was hired at the law firm I work at right after I graduated college. It's been about eight years. Wow. Saying it out loud makes it seem like forever."

Charlotte glanced up at the door and saw some more customers walking in. She shot them a smile and the two women got back to work.

Fitz had his reasons for taking Abby with him to run errands for the bakery. He wanted to talk to her and get to know her better. And he wanted her opinion on something. He figured she was safer to be alone with than Yvonne. And she had been friends with Olivia longer.

They got into his car and put on their seatbelts. Fitz explained that they needed to get some items that were shorted on his last few deliveries for this afternoons festivities at the bakery. As he drove he asked, "So, how long have you been engaged? And when is the big day?"

Abby smiled at him. He was making small talk with her. She wondered if he knew how dangerous it was for him to be alone with her and her thoughts. Her mind was working overtime. If things worked out between him and Olivia, Abby was looking forward to seeing Fitz at all the big events. Christmas, Thanksgiving, office parties, weddings.

"Abby? Are you ok?" Fitz asked with a chuckle.

She snapped out of her mini daydream and replied, "Uhh, yea. Fine." What the hell did he say? Wedding stuff! "Stephen and I have been engaged for six months, and...our wedding date is September 24."

"Wow. That's coming up pretty quick. Why aren't you acting like one of those bridezillas who completely loses their mind and drives everyone crazy with wedding demands?" He asked.

"Well, to be fair, you've only been around a week. Whose to say I haven't already started acting like that?" She shot him a mischievous grin from the passenger seat as her red hair blew from the air conditioning vent.

They were at a red light and Fitz took the opportunity to study her face. "Nah. You're not the type. Don't get me wrong, there is definitely some crazy in there. I think it's automatically embedded into all redheads, but you're not the over the top kind of crazy."

"What about you?" Abby asked. "Have you ever been married?"

Fitz shot her a knowing look. "Don't act like you haven't Googled me."

Abby laughed at his candor. "Point taken."

"You know, if you and Stephen don't have anything planned for tonight the two of you could come watch fireworks with me and Olivia? I'd love to meet him, if that's ok?" Fitz asked.

"That sounds great. I'll ask him about it when I pick him up later and let Olivia know." When the car came to a stop Abby asked, "Where are we exactly?"

"Sprinkle factory." He chuckled at her disbelieving face. "That's not the name of it, but that's what I call it when I need sprinkles and stuff."

Fitz walked around to her side of the car and opened it for her. "I can't have a cupcake decorating event without a ton of sprinkles. The man who owns this place always has them in stock, along with other bakery stuff I might need, so I get them from him when I'm in a pinch."

"He doesn't deliver what you need?" Abby asked with a smirk.

Fitz shook his head and rolled his eyes at her. "There's no Alexander here, if that's what you're asking." Abby's laughed all the way inside.

The two of them ran one more errand and an hour later, Abby and Fitz came walking back in the front door of the bakery with huge grins on their faces and bags in their arms. They took everything to the back of the bakery where it was seized by other employees to be used for various things.

Abby walked up front looking for Liv. The bakery was getting busier by the minute. Olivia was still behind the counter with Charlotte and both women were working at a rapid pace filling orders for everyone in line. She saw Fitz heading to help them and grabbed his arm in the midst the chaos. "She's very busy. Please tell her I had to go pick up Stephen. And that I'll call her later on to let you both know if we will meet you for fireworks later on."

Fitz nodded his head and gave her a quick hug before she left. "Thanks for going with me today. It was very...enlightening. I hope you both can make it tonight. Be safe."

Fitz stood to the left of the display case to a section that had been roped off from the public earlier that morning. It was the space needed for the kids to use later on. His voice boomed loudly as he made an announcement. "Welcome to the Sweet Spot! We are glad you have come in out of the heat for a while." The entire bakery was silent, except for the employees working in the backroom. "In less than an hour, this space is going to used just for the kids to decorate Fourth of July cupcakes. Now, I need some help from some of the kids in here right now to help make some signs. We don't want any parents sitting in this area while you work. Are there any artists in here that can help me with this? You need to ask your parents if you can help first."

He watched with a grin as kids excitedly asked their parents if they could participate, and eventually walked over to where he was standing. He opened the elastic rope and let them in, where crayons, markers, and lots of white paper waited for their creativity on several tables. Soon there were ten to fifteen kids of various ages writing and drawing different things with smiles on their faces. When they were done, Fitz stuck scotch tape loops on the back of their artwork and hung them up on the walls as the kids eagerly watched.

The event itself was a huge success. Olivia had never seen so many cupcakes in her life. Chocolate and vanilla cupcakes had been brought out as fast as the kids could decorate them. And who knew kids liked sprinkles as much as they did? The kids, and there had been hundreds of them, had sprinkles of various colors on every imaginable surface in their work space. There were sprinkles on the tables, the floor, the chairs, and even the walls. Some of the kids had sprinkles in their hair when they walked away with big smiles and their half eaten creations.

The parents looked more relaxed when they left than when they had come in to the bakery. Olivia assumed part of that was because they got a few minutes to themselves while their kids were safely entertaining themselves. And part of it was probably because they were out of the dreadful heat of the day. Fitz really had planned the timing well for his event. The bakery must have had a very profitable day with people enjoying sweets and cool drinks while their little ones were supervised by the bakery staff. All in all, everyone had a good time.

The bakery was locked up at five o'clock so the employees could enjoy the rest of the Fourth of July with their families. Fitz was running a business, but knew that happy employees meant loyal employees. That philosophy hadn't failed him yet. With the exception of the high school kids that he hired here and there, almost all of his employees had been with him since the day he opened. He felt a great sense of pride in that and did everything he could to make sure they got to spend time with their families on holidays. Even if it meant he worked their hours himself so that could happen.

Fitz and Olivia rode to his house so that he could take a shower and change clothes. He knew he smelled like the inside of a cupcake, and was beyond ready to fix that. As they rode, Olivia checked her phone. "Abby text me earlier. She said that she and Stephen will be joining us for fireworks later. That'll be fun."

When she only got an "Mmmhmm" from him as he drove she decided to ask about his time with Abby. But the lawyer in her started out on another topic to build up to it. "The cupcake event was so much fun. Do you always have that many kids decorating every year?"

Fitz glanced at her from his peripheral vision. She is so cute, he thought. "Actually there might have been a few less kids there this year than last. But it turned out well. I'm really proud of my staff. Thank you and the girls for helping." He pulled her hand close to his mouth and kissed her knuckles.

"I'll be sure to tell Yvonne and Abby at work on Monday." Olivia said.

"No need. I've already taken care of it." Fitz said confidently.

"What have you done? You know you make things worse when you act all cavalier with them, right? Hell, you make things worse when you look at them." Olivia rolled her eyes as he chuckled beside her. "There's that laugh." She mimicked Yvonne's voice which made Fitz's chuckle grow.

"I like your friends. They are sweet. And funny. And smart. And they think I'm the damn man. So yea, I'm ok with giving them attention and getting to know them. Anyone who is a friend of yours is a friend of mine. Oh shit! I forgot to tell you?!"

At his excited tone, Olivia sat up straighter in her seat and listened intently. "Tell me what?"

Fitz grinned at her like a kid. "I love you."

"You are such a dork. I love you too." She gave him a grin in return as they pulled up in front of his house. They walked in as Fitz started shedding his clothes on the way to the shower. "I'm giving you fifteen minutes to get ready and then I'm leaving you! Hurry up in there, Mister."

He was down to his boxer briefs when he stopped walking down his hall. He turned to Olivia, gave her a flirty smile, beckoned her with his index finger, and said, "You could give me thirty minutes and I'll be sure to make it worth your while?"

Olivia stepped up to him until their bodies were up against each other. She grabbed his bent index finger and sucked it into her mouth while keeping eye contact with him. His eyes were starting to cross from the thoughts that were running through his mind as her hands ran across his chest. She whispered to him. "Fifteen whole minutes?" Fitz started to lean down to kiss her, thinking he was gonna to get laid, when she suddenly smacked him on the ass and gently bit his finger at the same time. "Get your cute ass in the shower, babe. There isn't anything mind blowing that you could do in fifteen minutes, besides get me worked up."

Fitz puled his finger back away from her mouth and cupped her ass with a smirk. "Would you care to bet on that, Miss Pope? I'm certain that I can make you scream in a very satisfied way in fifteen minutes. Hell, I could do it in five."

Now it was Olivia's mind that was going a thousand miles an hour. There were several ways he could easily make this happen. Her body automatically responded to him. And the fireworks weren't going to start until it got dark. But they were meeting Abby and Stephen, so they couldn't be late. Damn him. There was room to compromise here, however. "Fine. Fireworks first. Then, after we get back home I'll give you five minutes to see what you can do. What do you want to bet?"

He just grinned at her. She wanted him. And she knew she was going to lose. It wouldn't make the winning any sweeter for Fitz, but he knew he would end up well satisfied before it was over too and that was reward enough for him. Still, he couldn't pass up an opportunity to watch her pay up. Especially after she had hustled him at the bowling alley the other night.

A very inspired thought entered his mind and Fitz licked his lips at the imagery it conjured up. His grin turned devious. "Fine. When I win, you will have your first cooking lesson wearing nothing but an apron."

This was not what she was expecting. Was there anything the male mind didn't conjure without nudity involved? She guessed not. It sounded like a good time to her. She was imagining him in nothing but an apron too. That brought new images of flour on his ass into her thoughts. She would end up burning the damned bakery down for sure. And still not know anything about cooking. But the scenery would be spectacular! "Ok. But if you can't perform to my satisfaction within five minutes," Fitz let out a pffft sound. "Then you are going to buy me a pair of shoes!"

"Is that all?" He asked.

She smiled sweetly at him and patted his cheek. "The pair I have my eye on cost over three hundred dollars."

"For one pair?! What is it with you women and your damned shoes?" He was completely bewildered at this logic.

"Oh. So you're not so sure about your skills huh? Interesting."

"Babe, IF you aren't screaming within three minutes, I'll buy you two pair in whatever colors you want." He smirked at her. He had no doubts whatsoever.

"We shall see. Later. Go take a shower. And make it snappy. You're down to ten minutes in there now." Olivia walked away from him breathing heavily and very much anticipating getting back home. She had no doubts about his skills either.


	19. Turn Up The Heat

Turn Up The Heat

Olivia heard her cell phone ring as she wrapped up a conversation with a client on her office phone. She picked up the smaller device and looked at the number displayed. It was one she didn't recognize but she answered anyways with a chirpy "Hello".

"Olivia, dear? Is that you?"

It took a moment, but then Olivia realized who was on the phone. "Emma! Hi. How are you?"

"I'm fine, dear. How have you been?" Emma asked.

"I've been really good. How is your husband doing? I've been meaning to come by there to visit both of you. Fitz mentioned that we might see you at the bakery on the fourth. I was looking forward to that, but I understand that you couldn't make it. "

Emma was touched that Olivia had asked about him. "He's mending well. Thank you for asking. We wanted to come, but Thomas really doesn't like the city very much. It's too noisy and there are too many people there for his liking."

In the background, Olivia could hear Fitz's dad saying, "Emma, don't lie to that girl. You know damn well that you won't let me escape!" Olivia chuckled as quietly as she could.

"Hush, Thomas. She's going to think I'm holding you against your will. It isn't like that at all, Olivia." Emma shot her husband a warning look. One that he wasn't scared of.

"Pretty damned well close to it." He could be heard.

"Thomas Grant, stop being so rude! She is never going to come over here if you keep acting like an old goat. I'm so sorry, Olivia. I think he's getting cabin fever. I know you are at work, and probably very busy, so I won't keep you long. I wanted to invite you and Fitz out to dinner with us tomorrow night. I know it's short notice..."

"Please say yes and rescue this old goat, Olivia!" Thomas yelled from the background.

Olivia couldn't contain her laughter this time. "We would love to go to dinner with the two of you." The women settled on a restaurant and time and ended the call. Olivia immediately called Fitz to let him know of their plans. "Hey babe. What are you doing?"

"Thinking of you. How has your day been?" Fitz replied.

"It's been really good. I just got a call from your mom. She invited us to dinner tomorrow night. I said yes, hoping it would work out with your schedule. What do you think?" She stuck a file into her outbox for Yvonne to pick up later as she waited for his answer.

Fitz was grinning like a fool. His mother had bypassed him altogether and called Olivia to make plans. It was exactly how he always wanted the relationship between his mother and significant other to be. He couldn't be happier. "Yea. That sounds...Wait a minute! My mother called you to make plans for dinner instead of me?"

Olivia smiled at his fake outrage. "I guess you're not her favorite anymore. That must suck?"

"Smart ass" he replied blandly. "I bet my dad will be glad to be out of the house."

"I think that's a safe bet." Olivia chuckled. "I'm excited to finally meet him."

"He really wants to meet you too. I tried telling him that you're high maintenance, and no fun at all. But he insists on meeting you." Fitz smiled.

"Now whose being a smart ass?"

"Speaking of asses," His voice dropped an octave. "When are we going to have our first cooking lesson? I'm anxious to teach you some things."

"You're just anxious to get me naked. Having me in the kitchen is just a bonus." She retorted.

"Oh, I get to have you in the kitchen too? You are making this so much more exciting, Miss Pope. Let's cook tonight." He begged.

Olivia had to laugh at his blatant maleness. "You are shameless. Don't you have some sticky buns to make?"

Fitz inhaled sharply. She was torturing him on purpose. "If you're going to bring sticky buns into the conversation, you need to know that I am thinking of some very creative things to do to your body. I'm pretty sure most of them are illegal."

Olivia smirked into the phone. She said two words and then hung up on him. "Sticky. Buns."

Damn that woman, Fitz thought as he hung up the phone and smiled. If she wanted dirty talk, he would provide her with all she could handle. And then some. Payback is a bitch. He couldn't wait to get home.

In an effort to kill the thoughts his mind was building up, he called his mother. "Hi mom."

"Hello Fitz. How are you today?" Emma chirped.

"I'm great. I hear we have dinner plans tomorrow night."

"We do. Olivia and I worked out the details. I hope that's alright with you?" It didn't matter if it was alright with him or not. Emma knew Olivia would make sure Fitz was there. She wanted to see for herself how things were coming along between the two of them. It's a mother's prerogative, she reasoned in her mind.

"Yes ma'am." Fitz knew exactly what his mother was up to. He could play along with her. "I'm sure dad is excited to be getting out of the house too."

"Don't sass me, Fitzgerald Grant." She warned.

Fitz smirked. He bet his dad pushed for this dinner to happen. "I wouldn't dream of it. I'll see you tomorrow night and I'll bring a dozen of your favorite donuts. Just for my best girl."

Emma knew when she was being played. She could practically see his smirk through the phone. It was a good thing he was her son and she loved him fiercely. "You always were a charmer. I'll see the both of you tomorrow night at six. Goodbye Fitzgerald. I love you."

"Love you too. Bye, mom" Fitz sang. He ended the call and laughed.

Olivia came home at five thirty and upon entering her house, set her keys in the bowl like she always did. There was a note inside the bowl that said:  
 _It's time to get cooking good looking. Go get changed in the bedroom_

Fitz had beat her home, she surmised with a grin. Obviously he had thought of little else during the day than their phone conversation. If he was anxious to teach her how to cook, she would be an eager student. Olivia made her way into her bedroom but never saw Fitz. She wondered where he was. Another note was on her bed, where a pink apron sat beside it. He had left her a treasure hunt. She was very aware of how this would end. The note said:  
 _Everything must go. Except this apron and a willingness to learn_

Olivia sighed at his simple request and began taking her clothes off and throwing them into the laundry hamper. She looped the apron around her neck and tied it behind her back. She then walked into the bathroom in search of something to get her hair out of the way. As Olivia twisted her hair around her finger in a loose circle and pinned it with a few stray bobby pins, she noticed the note on the mirror. It read:  
 _Before we start cooking, let's have a drink. Come to my favorite couch_

She knew exactly what he was talking about and started walking to it. The memory of him bending her over that couch made her steps quicken. Maybe before they started cooking they could re-enact that happy time. She got to the couch in no time at all, but he wasn't there. She looked around but didn't see him. She wondered if he had left the treasure hunt for her on his lunch break and really wasn't home yet? She was starting to feel stupid, sitting on the couch wearing nothing but an apron.

Olivia stood up to retrieve her phone to call him when he stepped into the room. She didn't sit down. It was more like a clumsy fall. Fitz was wearing nothing but a sky blue apron that was folded in half, leaving  
his chest completely exposed, and tied around his waist. His hair was damp and those defined curls were making her want to touch them. His chest was perfection and his fuzzy abs were begging for her tongue. Her mouth watered at the thought of it.

Fitz was holding a glass of red wine and a small glass with an amber colored drink inside. Probably scotch. He handed her the maroon drink and said, "To your first cooking lesson. I hope it's memorable."

They clinked their glasses together and Olivia muttered, "It already is." She downed the contents in one gulp as Fitz eyed her.

He thought he would be the one to make it difficult for her to stay concentrated. He was wrong. He couldn't even remember what the hell they were supposed to be cooking. He now wished he had grabbed one of the smaller aprons the kids wear on field trips to the bakery. The pink material was covering up everything of interest to him. Except her ass. And he had to wait for her to stand up before he could admire it. Fitz appreciated the side boob view the apron afforded him, but it wasn't enough. He should have asked her to fold the top of her apron down as he himself had done. Hindsight was a bitch. He downed his drink, held his hand out to her, and asked, "Shall we get started?"

Olivia stayed where she was. She wasn't a fool. She knew he wanted an eye full of her ass. Probably a handful too. She was fine with that, but she had some questions first. "What are we cooking, Fitz?"

Fitz smiled at her. He wished she would stand up. "I said we would start out simple. So tonight we are going to make a garden salad, our own pizzas, and for dessert an apple pie. It's all pretty easy stuff, so stop looking terrified." He laughed.

"There's flour in the pizza crust, right?" Olivia's eyes almost crossed at the wicked thoughts. She wished he would turn around so she could see his ass before she got flour all over it.

Fitz sat down with a questioning look and slipped his arm behind her. "Of course. We have to make the crust first because it needs time to rise. Why do you ask?"

Good luck getting yourself out of this one, Olivia thought to herself. "Ummm I read somewhere that pizza crust made with sweet potatoes is better for you."

Fitz made a face. "Who the hell eats that? Pizza isn't supposed to be good for you. It's pizza!"

Olivia laughed at him. "Agreed. Let's get started."

Again, she started to get up but Fitz grabbed her hand pulled her close to him. "I haven't had a kiss since this morning. I really need one before we get started. Please."

"Mmmm. Good idea." Olivia leaned over and her hands instinctively went into his hair. She pulled him closer, tilted her head, and opened her mouth. The moment she felt his lips on hers she closed her eyes as her tongue happily greeted his. Fitz caressed her cheek through the kiss and pulled her close to his chest for a hug after it ended.

"Let's get busy. There's a lot to do and the fact that you are wearing nothing but an apron is going to make it really hard to stay on task." Fitz swept his thumb across her chin once and then pulled her to standing. "After you." He said with a wicked grin.

"I'm just the student. I'll follow your lead, thank you." She grinned back.

Fitz didn't move. They were never going to get anything cooked if they were both too busy ogling each other. "Here's what is going to happen. I'm going to turn around in a circle so you can check me out, and then you are going to do the same for me. Otherwise, we are never going to move and I'm already hungry." His eyes traveled over her body slowly. "Starving actually."

"Fine." She watched Fitz open his arms, turn his palms upward and start to turn. "But do it slow." He raised his eyebrows at her, and complied. Olivia took great delight in what she saw, even though she had seen it all before. From his big bare feet to the curls on his head. Everything was perfect. And perfectly displayed for her eyes to take in. Her hands itched to touch his ass when his back was to her. She knew if she touched him it would be all over. They would end up ordering take out several hours from now.

When he was facing her once again, he gave her a lopsided grin. "Your turn. And I want a slow circle too. Please." He added. He watched with hungry eyes as Olivia slowly turned around. He really wasn't in the mood to cook anymore. The moment Olivia's back was to him, she poked her ass out and swiveled her hips in a circular motion. She didn't need to see his face to know he was re-thinking this idea.

Fitz grabbed her hand, muttered "Let's go" and practically hauled her to the kitchen as Olivia smiled victoriously. In a serious voice he told her, "One of the most important things to do is to taste everything as you make it so you know it's good. Pizza dough isn't that difficult. I already have the ingredients on the counter. You need to measure them, put them in a bowl, and mix them up so they can rise. While it's rising we will make the salad and get our toppings cut up. Are you ready?"

Olivia looked at everything on the counter and although she felt a little intimidated, she was up for the challenge. "Hell yes." For the next twenty minutes she listened to everything Fitz said about the difference between dry and liquid measuring cups, all purpose and self rising flour, and various other cooking terms and information she never knew about. It was a lot less sexy than she imagined. She didn't even have time to attempt to put flour on his ass. That was a letdown. There was still time with salad and pie prep. Something was going on that man's ass before this was over.

"We'll leave the dough in that bowl and let it rise for a while. There is plenty to do to keep us busy while it does." Fitz turned on the oven and placed the bowl on the stove to help the dough rise better. "You put whatever you want on your pizza and I'll put whatever I want on mine. You cut up your own toppings though. Deal?"

Olivia was leaning over the opposite side of the counter from him. "Deal. I'll have cheese pizza," she joked. Fitz gave her an eye roll. "Fine! I think I can chop up some veggies." She gave him an eye roll back.

Fitz showed her the right way to hold the knife and they chopped tomato, bell pepper, onion, mushrooms, cucumber, carrot, romaine, and olives. He had cheated and bought pre sliced pepperoni from the grocery store, but he had been anxious to beat her home. They put the salad together effortlessly. Mostly because there wasn't any cooking involved. Fitz put the bowl in the refrigerator and Olivia was reminded of her goal as she watched him walk away. Apple pie prep was coming and that was her opportunity. She smirked to herself. Flour is in apple pie.

"What are you looking suspicious about?" Fitz asked as he returned to her side of the counter.

"I love apple pie. It's one of my favorites, but I never knew how to make it. I'm just excited. I hope it turns out well." She covered.

"It's an easy recipe, so it should be great." He replied. "You can peel these five apples and then we'll cut them up. While you're doing that, I'll make the crust."

"NO!" She shouted. Fitz scrunched his face up at her. "I mean, the crust is the best part. I definitely want to know how to make that too."

There was something going on with her, but Fitz shrugged it off. The woman liked pie crust. Once again, he had everything on the counter for her to measure into a bowl. She seemed to really like the flour for some reason. She kept putting her hands in it like it was some kind of exfoliator or something. He didn't think much else about it. There didn't seem to be enough space in the kitchen. Or she couldn't find a good spot to work. Because Olivia kept brushing past him, or changing sides. To get a better view, he assumed.

He showed her how to sprinkle the flour on the counter so they could roll it out without sticking. She did a great job and even got the crust wrapped around the rolling pin to lay on top of the pie pan. She pat the crust down to fit the pan almost expertly. They cut up the apples, added the spices to them, mixed them up with a spoon, and dumped them on top of the crust. Olivia rolled out the second crust for the top of the pie, again using lots of flour. What was her deal with the flour?

He helped her brush the top of the pie with an egg wash with cinnamon and sugar in it. They put the pie into the oven to cook and set a timer. She seems pretty excited about making her first apple pie. She put her hands on his hips, pecked his lips once, and excitedly asked, "Is it time to finish the pizza now? Has the crust risen enough?"

Fitz was impressed with her enthusiasm for cooking. It made him want to show her how to cook more foods. He peeked under the paper towel and told her it was ready and that they could roll it out. He caught her staring at his ass and smirked but didn't say anything.

He stood behind her while she rolled out the pizza crust into two circles. Fitz put his hands on her hips and kissed her neck while she worked. Fitz noticed that she wasn't rolling these out as quickly as she had the pie crusts. It made him smile. His left index finger very slowly inched it's way over her hip bone. He had no interest in the food anymore.

Olivia didn't notice what his finger was up to because she was trying to wrap up this damn meal. She had accomplished her mission. Fitz had no less than three flour covered handprints on his ass. She wanted to lick them off. Now. His lips on her neck, however, were driving Olivia to distraction. She was so close to dropping the rolling pin and climbing on his lap right there on the flour sprinkled floor. Once she was done with the dough, she put them on a sheet pan and came back to the counter to clean it up.

She did stop for a minute to enjoy his mouth on her neck. "What the hell are you doing?" She asked seductively.

His tongue slowly made a trail from behind her ear down the column of her neck. "What was the first thing I told you about cooking earlier?" He waited for her to answer, but knew her mind was far too jumbled to answer any questions. He whispered the answer for her. "I told you that you have to taste everything as you cook it to make sure it's good. That's what I'm doing. You are so tasty, babe."

Fitz moved his hands up to Olivia's neck and pulled the apron string off of it, leaving her breasts exposed. His right hand immediately went around and across the front of her body cupping her left breast. She groaned at his touch and reached her left arm back looping it behind his neck while his left hand went back to it's own playground below.

Olivia starting grinding her ass into his growing erection when his hands suddenly gripped her hips, spun her around, picked her up, and placed her on the kitchen counter. Flour and all. He opened her legs and stepped between them. His eyes glazed over slightly and he licked his lips. "I need to taste this too. To make sure it's good." His mouth latched onto her hardened nipple and he sucked it with ferocity as she leaned back on the island with a moan. He made an approving groan as he tasted and after a few minutes Fitz released her hardened nipple long enough to take the other one in his mouth. Olivia moaned again and grabbed two fistfuls of his hair. It made him wild with wanting her.

Fitz grabbed her hips once again and used them to forcefully pull her closer to himself, never releasing her breast. All Olivia could do was enjoy his skilled mouth and try not to lose her mind. He released her hardened nipple from his mouth a few moments later and in between kisses up to her face he said. "I figured out your mad obsession with the flour." He pecked her lips with a smirk on his face. "I believe I just got more flour on your ass when I put you on the counter than you got on mine. Nice try, Miss Pope. But you can't win at everything." He leaned in to her face and gave her a scorching kiss. Olivia pulled his hair in ecstasy and tightened the hold her legs had on his waist. She devoured him.

Before Olivia could respond to his maddening know it all self, Fitz untied the apron at her waist and pulled it off her body, throwing it on the floor. He kissed his way down Olivia's body, pausing ever so slightly at her hip but kept moving south until he reached her dangling foot. Fitz grasped Olivia's ankle, brought it up with him, and set her foot on the counter, effectively opening her center. He licked his lips, gave her a hungry impatient stare, and said, "I would be a bad cook If I didn't take a taste. It's a rule of cooking." He never waited for her to reply, but immediately dipped his head to her center, and held nothing back with his tongue. He heard her delirious moans and felt her hands clawing at his shoulders, but he held her in place and didn't let up.

Olivia threw her legs over his neck and tried to hold onto something as his mouth continued it's onslaught on her body. She was cursing and squirming, but still Fitz kept up his insatiable pace on her center. Finally, she remembered how to say actual words and started begging. "Fitz, please. PLEASE!" She screamed another release and started sinking into a satisfied boneless puddle on the counter.

Fitz reluctantly lifted his head and looked at Olivia. Her lips were swollen. Her eyes were half open. She was breathing hard. Her hair had come down from the bobby pins. She was gloriously naked. She was absolutely beautiful. "I'm kinda busy, babe. What do you need?"

Her voice was shaky. "The timer on the oven is going off. The pie needs to be taken out before it burns. And I can't walk, so you're gonna have to do it." She had never been so thankful for a timer in her whole life. She didn't know how much more she could take of his very gifted mouth. She watched him stand up, walk to the oven, and take out the heavenly smelling food.

Olivia started to get off the counter, but Fitz returned and stood in front of her once again. "Where do you think you're going?" He asked with raised eyebrows. "We're not done cooking yet."

"I don't think I can take much more...cooking with you. I almost burst into flames a few minutes ago. That's gotta be a rule somewhere too, right? Not to burn anything?"

She looked so hopeful that he would end the festivities, Fitz almost laughed at her. But he knew he wasn't finished with her. Not by a long shot. "Burning things is unacceptable in a kitchen." He watched her breathe a sigh of relief and added, "But we didn't burn anything. We just turned up the heat a little. I think you can take a lot more, and I have a lot more to give you. Wrap your legs around my waist and I'll show you how much more."

Olivia sat on the counter and reached down to his waist and untied the blue apron, throwing it over her shoulder. It landed on the floor on top of the pink one she had been wearing. She wrapped her legs around Fitz and ran her hands up his chest and over his shoulders as she scooted closer to the edge of the counter with a determined look on her face. "Turn up the heat then." They both groaned loudly and blissfully as he slid inside her.


	20. Late Night Habits

Late Night Habits

Fitz went to work the next day with a spring in his step. He was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to get through the day without some vision from the previous night's activities coming back to his mind. He would be cooking after all, and that would surely trigger something. Hell, putting his apron on would probably push him over the edge. The smile that had been permanently plastered on his face since he woke up got a little wider.

He walked into the bakery whistling some happy tune he couldn't remember the name of. Charlotte was in the back and had just turned on all of the ovens and equipment. She was currently brewing coffee, in hopes of finding some motivation for the day in a cup of the delicious black abyss. She stopped what she was doing and watched her boss happily float into his office. There was no other word to describe his movements. He was floating. She craned her neck and watched him open his office door and pull out the cash register. He was carrying it to the front of the bakery, just like he did everyday, when he finally made eye contact with Charlotte and stopped whistling long enough to greet her. "Good morning, Charlotte! How are you today?"

She eyed him carefully. The morning greetings between them weren't unusual. It was typical morning banter for the two of them to work around each other, getting everything ready for the bakery to open to the public. Sometimes they even shared tidbits of their personal lives. Charlotte was pretty sure her boss wouldn't be sharing anything from his personal life with her this morning. He was happy. Not the normal Fitz kind of happy. But the over the top kind of happy. She wondered if he had gotten laid last night, and that was the reason for his Mary Poppins sugary happiness. "Good morning boss. I'm good. How about you? You must have had some great sleep last night? You're really chipper."

Fitz gave her a lopsided smile. "Actually, no. But it's a great day and..."

Ohmygod! He had definitely gotten laid last night. She tuned him out immediately. There was no way in hell she would be able to be around him all day long and not want to choke him. Dylan had run a fever all night Friday and into Saturday. It had finally broke Saturday night and she had spent most of the day Sunday washing everything in the house. She was tired, but glad her son was feeling better.

Still. Charlotte was glad to see Fitz so happy. He deserved to be this happy. So she listened to his ramblings and smiled politely. She poured them both a cup of coffee and they discussed the items to be prepared for the day, the deliveries that would be coming, and other various things of importance before the rush of the day started.

Fitz went up front and put the money into the cash register and locked it up. When he returned to the back room, Charlotte had a puzzled look on her face. "What's the matter?" He asked her.

"I can't find your apron anywhere. The blue one? It's always hanging on the door of your office. But it's not there. I don't know where it could be?"

Fitz knew exactly where it was. It was still laying on Olivia's kitchen floor. He was never wearing that particular apron to work ever again. His grin returned and his eyes glazed over for a moment as a picture of Olivia screaming his name floated through his head. He snapped out of it and mumbled the best excuse he could think of. "I got something on it last night." Olivia's body.

"Why didn't you just throw it in the washing machine here with the others?" Charlotte asked. He was acting peculiar.

"Uhhhh, it's ruined. I need to just get another one. Would you mind grabbing one for me. It doesn't matter what color." That sounds reasonable, he thought to himself.

There was more to this story, Charlotte knew. Fitz had worn the same apron for over two years. Something was up. But she was fairly sure she didn't want to know what it was. She grabbed a red apron and handed it to him. The apologetic look that had been on his face had been replaced with a devilish grin.

The red apron reminded Fitz of pizza sauce, and the interesting places it had ended up on Olivia's body. And the happy way he had licked it off her. He grabbed the apron and went into his office, shutting the door behind him. He needed a minute to get it together.

***********************************************************************************  
Across town, Olivia arrived at work in a similar happy mood. She was feeling so happy, she had brought Starbucks for Yvonne and Abby. That happened on rare occasions and this seemed to be one of them. Her body was sore, but in all the right places for all the right reasons. Who knew the kitchen could be so sexy?

She set the logoed cup on Abby's desk and proceeded to Yvonne's. She was sitting in her chair staring at nothing in particular with a funny smile of her own on her face. Yvonne eyed her boss when she set the  
cup down in front of her. Whatever she wanted, it wasn't going to happen today. Yvonne had been on the phone with Jason until late, and this cup of expensive coffee wasn't near enough motivation for her.

"What gives?" Yvonne asked suspiciously.

"I brought you coffee. You're welcome." Olivia said as she continued to her office.

Yvonne scurried in behind Olivia with Starbucks in hand, and took an uninvited seat. "What's the special occasion? You only bring coffee when it's a special occasion and today isn't a holiday, so what gives?"

"No occasion. I was just being thoughtful as I stopped for my own coffee. It's no big deal really." Olivia stated.

"Ok. I'll play along." Yvonne took a big sip of the tasty hot liquid. "I'm betting it has to do with Fitz, huh?"

"Yvonne, I really don't have time for this. I stopped to get coffee. That's the end of the..."

Just then, Abby walked into Olivia's office with her Starbucks cups and a huge grin on her face. She held out her cup and asked, "What gives?"

Yvonne chuckled and said, "See! Something is up. You can tell us."

"It's just coffee. Nothing is up. If I had known that being a thoughtful friend was a crime against humanity and drove the both of you to suspicion, I never would have got any for either one of you. Damn!" Olivia said exasperatedly.

Abby took the other seat beside Yvonne and said, "Something is definitely up. I can wait."

"Why do you say that, Abby?" Olivia blandly asked.

"Because the last time you brought us coffee to the office was the day you found those Jimmy Choos on sale and bought them on the spot. Something is definitely up." Abby and Yvonne exchanged glances and smiles but sat silently drinking their coffee.

After a few minutes of silence, Olivia asked, "Have either one of you ever had cooking lessons?"

Two sets of eyebrows went up to the ceiling. Abby said no. Yvonne grinned. "As you both know, I worked side by side with Jason in the bakery the other day. It was very enlightening and I learned a lot. But I don't think that's what you're talking about. Is it?"

"Not quite." Olivia decided to put a pin in the topic of Jason, and continued to her own. "As you both know, I can't cook at all. Fitz offered to give me cooking lessons and we had our first one last night. It was...fun." She pursed her lips and avoided eye contact with her friends.

"Ok, I really want to know all about that! How does a cooking lesson put you in a really good mood? A Starbucks mood?" Yvonne asked.

Olivia debated on how to have this conversation with them. She wasn't ready to share all the sexy and very graphic details from the previous nights festivities. A girl had to keep some things to herself. Besides, it would just make things worse between Fitz and the girls. They were both already halfway in love with him themselves. She decided on a different approach.

"I never knew cooking could be so therapeutic. It really is relaxing. I mean, it had it's moments of slight stress, but overall it was really fun. I definitely want to do it again." And do Fitz in the kitchen again, she thought to herself.

Abby looked at Yvonne and smiled. "Our little Livvie is growing up on us, Yvonne. Learning how to cook and everything. Well, I've got an early meeting this morning, so I've got to get going, but in the spirit of Liv's giving heart, I'd like to take the two of you to this new place for dessert later this afternoon. It just opened up a few blocks over and I've heard their apple pie is to die for."

"No way in hell!" Olivia shouted. She took a moment to gather her thoughts before she continued. She could not eat pie in public any time soon. Maybe ever again. Thoughts of dropping spoonfuls of it on Fitz's chest and eating it off ran through her mind. She looked at her friends. Yvonne and Abby were  
looking at her like she had lost her mind. "What I mean is, I've got a really full day today. Maybe next week?"

"Yea. Sure, Liv. Have a great day. Both of you." Abby said, not really buying that story. Liv would tell her when she was ready. She hoped.

"See ya, Abby." Yvonne sang. After Abby had left, Yvonne looked back at Olivia. "What gives?"

"Come on, Yvonne. I've got a lot to do today. Nothing gives." Olivia tried.

"Your schedule isn't very full today. I would know. I DO know. So again, what gives?"

"I have blocked off two hours of my afternoon because I'm planning to go shopping for new shoes. Fitz was supposed to buy them for me but...Never mind. I'm going shoe shopping." She looked conspiratorially around the office. "Don't tell anyone, ok?" Olivia felt like a master liar. But she would choose that every time over telling her assistant and friend about hot kitchen sex.

Yvonne wasn't buying that load of shit. Her boss was hiding something. She'd find out about it sooner or later. She was that good. "Oh. Ok," She whispered, playing along. Yvonne got up, shot Olivia a thumbs up, and walked out of her office.

As soon as Yvonne was out of sight, Olivia laid her head down on her desk and closed her eyes. That was close. Those two were like bloodhounds on the hunt. Still, she could still taste last nights apple pie if she thought about it hard enough. Turns out Olivia could be a really good cook. Turns out, apple pie tasted so much better on Fitz's chest than a plate. She wondered why she even came in to work today.

***********************************************************************************  
Later that evening, Fitz and Olivia were hugging his parents and being seated at a table for four at the restaurant. Emma and Thomas had arrived a little early, mostly because he had complained about being cooped up in the house, and were already in their chairs. Olivia sat between Fitz and his father in hopes of getting to know Thomas better. Emma was across the table from her and the two women exchanged smiles and ordered a glass of wine.

"You look so much better than the last time I saw you, Mr. Grant." Olivia started. "How have you been feeling?"

Thomas smiled at her and said, "Let's get some things straight right off, missy..."

"Dad," Fitz warned.

"You're not too big for me to whoop your ass, sonny. Mind your own business. I'm talking to Olivia." Thomas returned his gaze back to Olivia and noticed she was grinning at him. "Mr. Grant was my father. Everyone calls me Thomas. That includes you now that you are dating Mr. Big Britches." Olivia giggled at him and quickly put her poker face back in place. "I'm feeling fine. Have been ever since I left the hospital. I feel even better every time I get out of the house, which isn't often enough." He shot his wife a look. "Now, if that's enough information about my health, I'd like to know more about you, Miss Pope."

"Fine. But if I'm going to call you Thomas, you have to call me Olivia. There's only one person who calls me Miss Pope in casual conversation." She glanced up lovingly at Fitz for a split second, but it didn't go unnoticed by anyone at the table. "What would you like to know about me? I'm kinda boring."

"I doubt that, Olivia. Otherwise my son wouldn't be dating you." Thomas replied.

"Oh? He has a thing for thrill seeking women does he? That's interesting." Olivia openly gave Fitz a surprised look.

Thomas laughed at her and added, "And sarcastic ones too." Fitz lightly slapped his father on the back and joined in the laughter with him.

"Olivia, dear, pay no attention to these two buffoons." Emma gave them 'the look' and the laughter died down rather quickly. "The truth of the matter is, Fitz has only ever brought one girl to meet us."

Olivia was interested in this new tidbit and wanted to know a little more about her. "Really? Was she a thrill seeker too?"

"No not really. She was more...what's the word? Efficient. Very organized." Emma explained.

Olivia smiled politely and acted interested, but didn't understand how efficient was a good quality in a girlfriend. She sounded dull and anything but a thrill seeker. Olivia inwardly chided herself. She was probably a lovely woman who kept them on time for things. Nothing wrong with that. She took a sip of her wine.

"What was her name, Fitz?" Emma asked. She got a wink and a grin from him in return. "That's right, it was Danielle."

Olivia almost spit out her wine as the other three people sitting at the table burst out laughing. "You are going to pay for that!" She shot Fitz a nasty look followed by a laugh of her own.

"I already did, Miss Pope. I brought mom an extra dozen doughnuts to add that into conversation." He beamed like a proud parent and kissed his mother's hand. "Payment is in the car, mom."

Emma snatched her hand away from her foolish son and swatted his arm. "I'm so sorry, Olivia dear. Fitz told me you would find it funny. I apologize if I hurt your feelings." She turned her wrath on her son. "You really will pay for that, Fitzgerald."

"You'll only hurt my feelings if you don't help me get even with Mr. Big Britches." Olivia smiled conspiratorially at Emma and heard Thomas chuckle.

"You can count on me, Olivia. Being his mother, I have more dirt on him. But uhhh, I'm keeping the doughnuts." Emma sheepishly said. The four of them laughed together and ate their dinner.

"Fitz tells me you are a lawyer. How long have you been in that field of work? Do you like it?" Thomas asked.

Olivia smiled at him. He was genuinely interested and not just making conversation. It was nice. "I've been a lawyer for about eight years now. I really enjoy it. I like helping people and I learn something about myself with just about every case."

Thomas took a pull from his glass and discovered he was utterly charmed by this woman. She was humble, spunky, smart, and completely in love with his son. "What do you mean when you say you learn something about yourself with every case?"

She pondered her answer before she spoke. Fitz held her hand under the table and gave it a light squeeze. "Well, for example, if I have a case that's about something I don't have a strong background in, I'll learn all I can about it to help my client. I learn how dedicated I can be. Or compassionate. Or clueless. It's always very interesting for me to learn new things." She took a sip of her wine and continued. "I have two friends who want to adopt a baby and have asked me to look into closed adoption. I don't know the first thing about closed adoption. I don't know the first thing about babies in general. So I am learning quite a lot with this case."

"So you don't have a problem mixing work with friends and family?" Thomas asked. "Isn't that a conflict of interest?"

"Dad, she gave Charlie and Rob her card the first time she met them at poker night. She has no shame!" Fitz exclaimed.

"So you've met the fools my son has been friends with for years? They will probably need that card faster than you might think, son." Thomas and Olivia shared a laugh while Fitz rolled his eyes.

"I don't see a problem representing family or friends as long as the case doesn't involve another friend of family member that I know. In a case like that, I would have to turn it down. It would be the right thing to do." Olivia pushed her plate away from herself, feeling full. "What did you do for work before you retired, Thomas?"

"I was a school teacher for thirty-four years." Thomas said with pride in his voice.

"Wow. Thirty-four years? Kudos to you. I wouldn't survive one day as a bus driver, much less shaping the minds of our future. That is amazing! Truly." Olivia praised.

"The four years that my son was at my school were the hardest..." He began

"Here we go." Fitz said blandly as he threw back the rest of his drink.

"You were a pain in the ass. There wasn't a day that went by that I wasn't being talked to by your teachers about your behavior. It was beyond annoying."

"I was under the impression that Fitz was an angel?" Olivia leaned over to him and kissed his cheek.

"Fitz who?" Thomas asked in a serious tone. He pointed at his son and said, "Not that kid? That kid was anything but an angel."

"He seems to have come into his own quite nicely. Maybe it took him a little longer to figure things out?" Fitz placed a kiss on her cheek in return.

"Don't look directly into his curls, Olivia. They have a way of mesmerizing women, somehow. I don't get it. He's still the snot nosed brat who thought it would be fun to see what would happen if he and his degenerate friends put sugar into my gas tank. The little heathens! They almost needed a lawyer that day. Let me tell you."

Fitz laughed loudly at the memory. It was one he would have to bring up to the guys on the next poker night. He bet they had forgotten about it just as he had. Olivia stuck by her statement. "The curls are a distraction! I thought I was the only one who was affected by them. I'm so glad I'm not. I bet he was super cute pulling that prank with his friends though?"

"I definitely was. Thank you babe." Fitz kissed her cheek again. Thomas rolled his eyes. Olivia was a goner. It made him happy to know his snot nosed son had grown up and fallen in love with a truly decent woman who loved him just as much. The four of them continued the random conversation.

Some time later a waiter came by and announced the dessert specialties. Tiramisu, Molten Chocolate Cake, or Salted Caramel Apple Pie. It seemed apple pie was going to follow her everywhere. She wanted to hold Fitz's hand under the table, but felt it slowly moving up her thigh instead. Olivia looked at his parents, but they were talking to the waiter about dessert. She snapped her head back to him and gave him a questioning look. He leaned to her ear, and whispered, "Do you want some apple pie? We can get it to go and eat it at home later."

His lips grazed over the skin on her throat, and Olivia made a strangled noise. When Emma and Thomas turned around to see if she was alright, she took a gulp of her wine. "I choked on something." She explained. Fitz gripped her thigh a little tighter. He wanted her to choke on something.

When the waiter asked Fitz and Olivia if they wanted any dessert, Olivia looked at him and nodded her head slightly. "We'll take a piece each of molten chocolate cake and apple pie. But we'd like to take them with us when we leave please." The waiter nodded and scurried off.

Why don't you eat your dessert here with us?" Emma asked.

"We like to eat dessert in the kitchen late at night. It's becoming a habit." Fitz explained. Thomas grinned knowingly while his mother refused the thoughts that threatened to enter her mind of her son and Olivia and late night desserts.


	21. Sadists Plans

Sadists Plans

"Hello?" Fitz called out from the front door of Olivia's house. He had just arrived, late from work, covering a shift at the bakery for one of the high school kids so she could go on her first date. "I'm home!" It didn't even seem weird to him to call her place home anymore. He still had his house, but Fitz spent most of his off time at Olivia's house. And happily so. He wondered where she was?

He dropped his keys into the same bowl she put hers and went to search for her. She wasn't in the living room so he kept walking to her bedroom. Maybe she had a sexy surprise for him and was waiting for him to come and get it? That would be a great way to end this day, Fitz thought to himself. His footsteps quickened and he turned the doorknob on her bedroom door. He tiptoed inside the dark room and shut the door behind him. He couldn't see a thing. He was beyond excited. He unbuttoned his shirt and threw it on the floor.

He stumbled toward her bed and heard a moan coming from her mouth. Fitz froze in place. What the hell was that? His breathing became quieter and he strained to hear any more noises. Olivia moaned from the direction of the bed and moved around on it. There is no way. No way in hell this cliché is happening to him. She loudly called out, "Daddy" and thrashed on the bed some more.

Who the hell is she calling daddy? Someone was about to be in serious pain! He kept tiptoeing to her bed and finally reached the side of it. Now what? Fitz didn't have a plan. Who would in this situation? The idea hit him in an instant.

He walked to the bathroom and pulled the door until it was only opened a crack. He reached his arm in a flipped the light switch on that was against the wall. He turned around expecting to see stunned faces staring back at him, caught in the act. Instead Fitz let out the breath he had been holding and felt more guilt than he ever had before.

Olivia was laying in her bed. Alone. There were crumbled up tissues on the floor and nightstand. There was a half empty glass of water on the nightstand as well. She suddenly moved on the bed and Fitz almost fell on his ass from the shock of it. Olivia was sick. He watched her for a few more minutes and witnessed her calling out "daddy" again. He'd have to ask her about that later. It was weird.

He walked around to the other side of the bed and crawled in. He wrapped his arms around her and immediately knew she was running a fever. She was burning up with it. He tried to wake her. "Babe? Can you wake up?"

Olivia stirred in the bed, and after coaxing her out of her fog a few more times, Fitz saw her eyes flutter open. He held her close to his bare chest and pushed her hair out of her face with a finger. She blinked a few times and in a very weak voice said, "Fitz? I don't feel very good."

It broke his heart to see her like this. "I know babe. How long have you been in bed?" She started crying and Fitz just held her and made shushing sounds.

"I need some water." She croaked out. Instead of getting out of bed, Fitz crawled over her and grabbed the glass from the nightstand. He helped her sit up and watched as she took a small sip. The act alone seemed to take all of her energy. He put the glass back and got back under the blankets with her. "I left work before lunch. I don't know how I made it home. I made a glass of water in the kitchen and just kept walking until I ended up in bed. What time is it?"

"It's almost eight o'clock. Have you taken any medicine? You most definitely have a fever, babe." Fitz wondered why she hadn't let him know she had come home early from work? Or wasn't feeling well? Those questions could wait though. Now he needed to get her better. He waited for her answer.

"I took a couple Tylenol when I got here, but I've been in bed ever since I got home." Olivia said, feeling tired again. His body was warm to her. It felt good. She clung to him and started drifting to sleep again.

She was about to hate him. He hated that he had to do this to her, but he didn't know what else to do. Her fever had to break. "Babe, I'm going to get you some more Tylenol to help you feel a little better. And you need to soak in a tub. It will help with the fever as well." He hoped he knew what he was talking about. It's what his sister in law did with her kids sometimes. If it worked on kids, it should work on adults too, right? And while she was in there, he would change the sheets. She had been laying on them for hours. They were probably full of germs.

Olivia whined in his arms and shook her head. "I don't wanna take a bath. I'm too tired. Just hold me."

Fitz held her for exactly four minutes. And then she was fast asleep again. He pried himself from her arms and got out of the bed. He noticed for the first time that she was still wearing work clothes. He didn't feel any shoes earlier, but he now saw a silk shirt haphazardly hanging off her body as she haphazardly laid across the bed. She wasn't going to like his plan, but it was for her own good. He stopped in his tracks and felt like his mother for a moment. How many times did she tell him and his brother that same thing before she did something horrible to them? Like make them take a bath? Or clean their room? Or whoop their ass? He shook off the feeling, threw his shirt back on, and walked into the bathroom.

Fitz looked in her medicine cabinet and located the Tylenol. There were only a few pills left. That wasn't good. What was he going to do? He didn't want to leave her to get more. He paced for a moment and then sprang into action. He left the bathroom door cracked open and quietly walked back into the kitchen. He picked up his cell phone and scrolled through his contacts, realizing he didn't have Abby's number. He crept back into the bedroom and searched for Olivia's phone. It was under a mountain of tissues, but he picked it up by his thumb and index finger, held it out away from his body, held his breath, and almost ran to the kitchen again.

He scrolled through her phone until he found Abby's name and touched the phone icon. The phone started ringing and Fitz started begging her to answer. Finally he heard, "Hello? Liv?"

"Hey Abby. It's Fitz. I need a really big favor from you right now."

"Why are you calling me from..."

"Abby! Oivia is sick. She's in bed and has a pretty high fever. There's only a few pills left in her Tylenol bottle and I don't want to leave her to go get more. Can you please bring some over here?" Fitz was talking really fast.

"Fitz! Calm down. All I heard is Liv is sick followed by a bunch of rambling. What's the matter with her?" Abby was already putting on shoes and looking for her keys.

Fitz took a deep breath and calmly said, "She has a fever. I had to work late tonight and just got home about a half hour ago. I found her asleep in bed. When I woke her up she said she has been there since she got home. Can you please bring a bottle of Tylenol over here? I really don't want to leave her. Please, Abby?"

"I'm already walking out the door. Do you have any soup there? She needs to eat something light. What about Gatorade? She needs to keep drinking a lot too." She heard him slamming cabinet doors open and uttering profanities. It made her smile. He was worried about her and wanted to take care of her.

"There's nothing in these cabinets that resembles food in any way. But there's so much popcorn that Orville Redenbacher would be proud! Whatever you think she needs, get it. I'll give you the money when you get here."

"Shut up, Fitz. Keep it together. Make some coffee. It's gonna be a long night. I'll be there in thirty minutes." Abby hung up and headed to the closest grocery store.

Fitz put the phone down on the counter and made a pot of coffee. He doubted he'd need any though. He was so wired and worried, he didn't think he'd ever sleep until her fever had broken. He went in search for the extra sheets for her bed. He wanted to change the bedding while she was in the tub so she could climb back into bed quickly when she was done.

He went into her dresser, as quietly as possible, looking for a thin long sleeved shirt and some kind of pajama pants. He found both thanks to her organized ways and laid them on the bathroom counter. He put a huge towel beside them. Once that was done he didn't know what else to do? He went into the kitchen and waited for Abby.

He called Charlotte and asked her to open the bakery for him in the morning and explained the situation. She was understanding and offered to help if he needed anything. Fitz appreciated her thoughtfulness and told her as much.

He had just poured a cup of coffee and was walking to the table to drink it when Abby walked in carrying five or six plastic bags full of stuff. She set them on the table and grabbed the cup of coffee out of his hand, taking a huge drink. "That's good stuff. Ok, here's the plan. We need to heat her up some soup and force her to eat some of it. She will refuse to, but we are in charge, not her. We are also going to take her temperature to see what we are dealing with. And so we can see if it goes up or down. And then..."

"No." Fitz interrupted. "First we are going to give her some Tylenol. We are going to run her a lukewarm bath to help break her fever. While you are doing that, I am going to change the disgusting germ infested sheets on her bed. She still has on work clothes! We are going to put her in something warm and comfy and then we can force food and drink down her throat. Ok?"

Abby was impressed. Fitz was on his game here and had put a lot of thought into it. He had a plan of his own and it was a better one than hers. "Ok. We need to get her sheets and clothes together first because when she gets out of the tub..."

"The clothes are already in the bathroom with her towel. I pulled the sheets out already and they are ready to go on the bed." He grinned at her despite the situation.

"Look at you. A man with a plan. Let me drink this coffee, because Liv rarely gets sick. But when she does, she's a whiney bitch. She is worse than a five year old. I'm guessing. It's gonna get ugly. Don't hold it against her."

Fitz poured a second cup of coffee and sat down with Abby to enjoy the last few moments of quiet. "I already told her she had to take a bath. She got whiney with me about it. It was kinda cute. If I get sucked into that cuteness and start giving in to what she doesn't want, I'm counting on you to bring me back to my senses. OK? I'm a complete pushover when it comes to her."

"Really?" Abby grinned at him. "I never noticed."

"Smartass," Fitz replied. They drank their coffee in silence and set their mugs on the counter when they were finished. Abby grabbed the Tylenol while Fitz opened and dumped a can of Chicken Noodle Soup in a pan on the stove. He grabbed a bottle of Gatorade and they headed into the bedroom.

Abby continued into the bathroom and started running water in the tub. She could hear murmured conversation and didn't pity Fitz at all. She knew Olivia was not going to like this. She shook the feeling off and felt the water for the tenth time. It wasn't too hot or too cold. She turned it off and went into the bedroom to help Fitz get her into the tub. What she saw instead made her put her hand on her hip and scowl.

Fitz looked up at Abby from inside the bed where he was holding Olivia, who was sleeping peacefully with her head on his chest. When Abby held her arms out in question, he whispered, "She's not quite ready for a bath. She promised to take one later."

Abby pulled the blankets off both of them and whispered, "You're doing it! You are giving in to her. Get your ass up! NOW!"

"Have you lost your damn mind? Put the blankets back on her. She's freezing!" Fitz demanded in a whispered voice.

"No! She's freezing because she has a fever. And the longer she lays in that bed without a bath and medicine and food the longer she is going to keep it. Did you at least take her temperature? Or do I have to do everything?" Fitz looked everywhere but at Abby. She huffed and said in a much gentler tone, "Liv,  
honey. I'm going to put a thermometer in your mouth to take your temperature. Just put it under your tongue, ok? There ya go." Abby shot Fitz a triumphant smirk.

When it beeped, Abby pulled it out of her friend's mouth and looked at the read out in the bathroom. She walked back in and gave Fitz a worried look. "How high is it?" He asked. Abby called off 102.1 and Fitz jumped up off the bed. "Olivia, you need to come take a bath, ok? It's going to make you feel better, baby."

Olivia didn't want a bath. She just wanted to sleep. Why did the two of them think they were going to get her to do anything other than that? It wasn't happening. "I promise I'll take one later. I just want to sleep right now. Please."

Fitz scooped her up in his arms and sat her on his lap on the edge of the bed. "No ma'am. That's not happening right now." Abby unbuttoned her blouse and pulled it off her hot skin.

Olivia shuddered from the cold air and turned into Fitz's side. "Noooo," she cried weakly. Abby pulled off Olivia's skirt as her friend continued crying and Fitz continued to hold her close, whispering 'it'll be alright' over and over.

She was down to her panties and bra and Abby looked to Fitz. He shrugged his shoulders not knowing how to handle it. "I've seen her naked more than you have. Yet" She stripped her friend and Fitz carried her into the bathroom.

"Baby, you've got to get into the tub. It'll help you feel so much better." But when he tried to set her into the water, she clung to his body. "How about if I get in the bath with you? Kind of like last time. Remember when we took a bath together? Except this time you can lean back onto my chest, ok?"

Without giving her the opportunity to agree or disagree, Fitz stepped into the tub with her. "She cried even harder now. "It's so cold, Fitz. Turn on the hot water. It's too cold."

"Babe, it's not too cold. I'm in here too and I'm not shivering at all. It feels cold because your skin is hot with a fever. This will help, I promise. But we have to get you all wet first." Abby handed him a cup and he began the task of filling it up and pouring it on her arms and shoulders and eventually her head. Olivia cried loudly and it broke Fitz's heart. Meanwhile, Abby changed the sheets on Liv's bed and tried not to cry too.

After they had been in the tub for about fifteen minutes, Fitz pulled the plug and let the water drain out. When most of it was gone, he nodded to Abby and she got the towel from the counter. He stood up with Olivia still in his arms and stepped out of the tub. In a loving gentle voice he explained that he was going to set her on the floor so they could dry her off and get her dressed as fast as they could. She nodded and reached for the towel. Abby wrapped her up tight and held her in a close hug while Olivia shivered from head to toe.

Fitz dried himself off as best he could and went into the bedroom to get dressed. He threw on his jogging pants and a bakery t-shirt. He rejoined Abby and Olivia in the bathroom where the job of dressing Olivia was made very hard due to her uncontrollable shaking. Abby had her shirt on and was pulling up her panties when he walked in. Fitz scooped her up once again and walked with her into the bedroom. He sat down with her on his lap again as Abby pulled socks onto her feet followed by a pair of fuzzy pajama bottoms. The minute she was fully dressed, she clung to Fitz again.

Abby patted her friend's hair as dry as she could with another towel and left her in his arms. She went into the kitchen and heated up the soup, trusting that Fitz was making her take the medicine and drink the Gatorade. When the soup was steaming Abby poured half of it into a bowl, grabbed a spoon, and went back to the bedroom.

Olivia was sitting up in bed with pillows behind her back and Fitz was sitting beside her. She was drinking the orange drink and Fitz was smiling. Abby took that as a signal that she had taken the medicine without argument. She sat down on the edge of the bed and said, "Liv. I know you're not hungry at all, but you need to eat a few spoonful's of soup. For me?"

Olivia looked at the soup and really didn't want to even smell it. But she nodded, knowing she had been defeated and took a bite. It felt good going down her raw throat. But she was never going to tell them that. Not after they tortured her in that frozen bath water. Still, her throat felt some much needed relief, and the soup wasn't so bad. She realized she was kind of hungry as she ate.

She was exhausted but didn't plan on sleep happening until these two sadists had explained what the next form of torture was going to be. She gave Abby the empty bowl and thought she saw a smirk on her friend's face. Her eyelids started to droop. Were these fresh sheets? She had the best boyfriend and friend anyone could ever hope to have. She was never telling them that either. She drifted off to sleep.

Fitz and Abby laid her lifeless body down and pulled the blankets up to her neck. Abby put her hand on Olivia's forehead, but it didn't feel quite as hot as before. That was a good sign. That could also change during the night. They walked out of the bedroom and drank another cup of coffee, enjoying the silence again.

"I really appreciate all your help tonight. I couldn't have done it without you, Red." Fitz pulled her close for a hug and Abby was partially sad that no one was here to witness it. But the other side was too tired to care.

"Why are you hugging me? I mean, I know you're glad I helped, but you are acting like I'm leaving?" Abby asked.

"Well, I just figured that now she's eaten, been in the tub, and settled in bed that you would want to take off? I can watch her through the night and give her meds if her fever spikes, or make her drink something every so often. Did you want to stay?" Fitz felt like he had just hurt her feelings. He didn't mean to.

"Hell yes I'm staying. No disrespect, but you admitted to being a pushover when it comes to her. Don't worry, I won't take over. I'd just be here as back up."

"Of course you can stay. I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings. I wouldn't do that to you." She smiled at him and he returned it. "Do you want to sleep with her? I can make up the couch and sleep there?"

"Uhhh no thanks. I'm not going to intentionally lay in a bed with her and catch that shit! I'll take the couch. But you can still make it up while I finish off my coffee." Abby grinned as he got up to get sheets and a blanket.

Some time around four a.m. Abby was being shaken awake by Fitz. She slapped his arms away but his strong ones kept shaking her. She opened her bleary eyes and exclaimed, "What the hell, Fitz?"

"I think we need to take her to the hospital or something. She won't drink anything, she hasn't gotten up to pee at all. Her breathing is pretty shallow. And her fever is back up. I just checked and it's 102.9. What do we do, Abby?" Fitz was frantic.

Abby blinked her eyes a few times and shook the sleepiness from her body. She thought for a minute and got up off the couch. She walked into the kitchen and grabbed her phone out of her purse. She fiddled with the buttons and held it up to her ear. She hated calling her this early in the morning, but it had to be done. Abby and Fitz were out of their realm. And she would know what to do. She chanted, "Come on, come on, come on," over and over until she heard a sleepy greeting on the phone.

"Hello? Mrs. Pope? This is Abby. I'm very sorry to call you so early in the morning, but...What? No! Liv hasn't been in a car accident. She's fine. I mean, she's not fine. She is sick. She is running a high fever and you are the only one I thought to call. Yes ma'am. We've tried Tylenol, a bath, food, drink. She's not peeing, Mrs. Pope. I'm really worried. Tell me what to do please." Abby made eye contact with Fitz and listened to Olivia's mother talk. "Yes ma'am. I'll wait. Thank you. Goodbye."

"So?" Fitz asked.

"Liv's parents are on their way over here now. They'll know what to do." Abby explained. "We'd better brew some more coffee."

 **To be continued...**


	22. The Fevered Devil

The Fevered Devil

Olivia's parents walked through their daughter's front door like a whirlwind at full speed. "Where's my baby girl? What's her temp? When was the last time she ate? Drank? Vomited?" Fitz and Abby stood dumbstruck at the rapid fire questions. Mrs. Pope snapped her fingers repeatedly in their faces and said, "Hello? I need some information here!"

Abby was the first to speak, as she watched Olivia's parents wait for answers. "Uhhh, she's in her bed..." Nathaniel darted off to his daughter's bedroom like a shot. "We took her temperature just before we called you. It was 102.9. We fed her a half can of soup around nine o'clock. Fitz has been giving her Gatorade off and on through..."

"Fitz?" Mrs. Pope looked at the tall young man standing beside Abby. "Is that you?"

"Yes ma'am." He held out his hand to shake hers.

Mrs. Pope's eyebrows went skyward as she shook his hand. "Did you just say ma'am?"

Shit! Did he just offend her? Some women thought being called ma'am meant they were considered old. "Uhhh, yes? It's very nice to meet you, Mrs. Pope. I'm Fitzgerald Grant."

He had pretty curly hair. And gorgeous blue eyes. She wasn't going to like him based on his looks alone. But they did help. She wanted to know what he was like as a person. At least he was respectful. That was something in his favor. "I'm Lila. Are you the man my daughter was gushing about at my house recently?"

Fitz grinned widely showing his perfect white teeth. "Yes ma'am, I am."

"Mmmmhmmm." Was all she said. "I need to go see my baby now. The two of you have taken good care of her. Let me go see what's what and we will go from there." She started walking towards Olivia's bedroom while Fitz followed. "Where are you going?" She asked him.

"No disrespect to you Mrs. Pope, but I'm going in there too! She has had me worried all night and I want to make sure she is ok. Please." Fitz just wanted Olivia to get better. But he wasn't going to be steam rolled by her mother like an outsider.

"Come on then. Someone is going to have to help me to stop her daddy from carrying on. It might as well be you." She chuckled. Fitz wanted to ask her about why Olivia called out to her daddy but figured it could wait.

Mrs. Pope opened the bedroom door, stood in the doorway, and smiled at the what she saw. It was a brief moment of happiness but was also an expected sight. Nathaniel was holding Olivia in his arms and was singing You Are My Sunshine to her. Just like he did when she was sick as a child. Somehow, it always soothed her and quieted her down enough to rest. It was one of Lila's fondest memories of her daughter and husband. It was a shame it took Olivia being sick to see it. Nothing was gonna stop that man from singing to his baby girl when she was sick.

Fitz stood behind Olivia's mother and he too, was in awe of what he saw. Olivia was holding onto her father's neck tightly, much like she had done with him earlier. But she was awake. And she was quiet as a mouse just sitting on his lap and listening to his voice. He smiled. The need Olivia had for her daddy earlier made so much more sense to him now. He quieted her. Comforted her when she didn't feel well. Olivia really was a daddy's girl. She had told him that she was, but seeing it in action really helped Fitz understand it better. It was kinda cute to watch.

Lila took the few steps to Olivia's beside and put her hand to her daughter's forehead. She felt warm. "Momma? Where's Fitz?"

Fitz stepped up beside Olivia and her parents. "I'm right here, babe. How are you feeling?"

Olivia reached out to Fitz and he hesitantly took her out of her father's arms and sat down on the edge of the bed beside him. "Did you take a bath with me? Or did I dream that?" Fitz's eyes darted from her mother to her father. This was NOT a conversation he wanted to have with them in the room.

"Yea, I did that." He looked up at her parents and quickly added, "But I was fully clothed the whole time!" He looked back down at Olivia and smiled. "You were pretty mad at me about that too. But let's shift some of that blame on Abby. She did help." Fitz heard Olivia's mother giggle and relaxed a bit. "But it did help your fever go down at the time. So it must have been a good idea, right? How are you feeling right now?" He kissed her cheek. She still felt warm.

"I still don't feel very good, babe." She started crying softly and he held her even closer and made shushing noises.

"Ok baby girl. That's enough talking. I'll bet your throat feels like fire, doesn't it?" When Olivia swallowed and nodded, Lila added, "You need to drink something. I'll go get you something cold. It'll make your throat feel better. Or would you rather have something warm? Like tea?" When Olivia whispered the word cold, Lila left the room to search for a drink.

Fitz was left with Olivia and her father. He wondered if he should give Olivia back to her dad? He wondered if her dad wanted him dead for taking her from him in the first place? She was obviously a daddy's girl. But she was also his girl. He would have to tread carefully and respectfully here. "Has she been sick like this as an adult before?" He asked Mr. Pope.

Nathaniel didn't want to like this young man. He had taken his baby girl out of his very arms. Well, she wanted Fitz to hold her. And what the hell was that all about? She was his baby first. This guy brings his tall handsome ass into her bedroom and, yea Olivia wanted to go to him, but he could have said no. Right? And now he was making small talk with him? Who the hell did he think he was? But he did calm Olivia down. And he did get her to talk a little. Which was more than he had gotten out of her. She was his baby girl first. He pouted for a minute. On principle.

"No. Never. We were really worried. I hope we didn't crowd y'all?" Did he just apologize to this guy for coming to check on his daughter?

"I'm really glad Abby thought to call you both. I was really worried when her fever went back up a little while ago. I didn't know what to do." Fitz confessed as he rocked Olivia back and forth in his arms. "My brother and his wife have kids and I remember him telling me that they put them in a lukewarm bath to help break the fever. So I tried that."

When Nathaniel chuckled Fitz felt more at ease. "I bet she loved that idea."

"She hated it." Fitz chuckled too. "I learned that she's a master manipulator when she's sick. She begged me not to put her in the tub. Said she'd get in later. I turned to mush and agreed. Then things got ugly when Abby came in here and basically kicked my ass for it. But, we got her in and out and Abby dressed her in warm clothes and changed the sheets on her bed. She ate some soup and drank some Gatorade. And then slept for a while. I just felt...helpless when it spiked back up. I just wanted her to feel better."

Nathaniel looked at his daughter, asleep in the arms of this man who was so obviously and completely in love with her. He had done all the right things to try to break the fever and take care of her. Fitz had done everything he would have if he had been here. He hated to admit it, but Nathaniel was glad Olivia had this man. He recalled their conversation at dinner that Sunday. It seemed Fitz was indeed in the deep end of the pool with Olivia and was interested in staying there for the long term. He smiled. His Munchkin was in love. And loved by a good man.

Fitz laid the now sleeping Olivia down on her bed, kissed her forehead, and covered her up. Nathaniel watched him do it and said, "You know, her mother is about to come in here and force her to drink something. And take some more medicine."

"Yea, but that's between Olivia and her mother. We should get the hell out of here before it happens." The two men chuckled to each other and stood to leave.

Nathaniel leaned over his daughter and kissed her forehead as Fitz had done. "My poor Munchkin."

"Munchkin?" Fitz asked.

"We'll talk about that, among other things, in the living room. Let's go before she gets here." The two men speed walked into the living room as Olivia's mom and Abby headed in carrying a bowl of hot soup and a fresh Gatorade bottle. Mrs. Pope noticed their smiles but said nothing. Men!

Fitz and Nathaniel sat at the table and talked over several cups of coffee while the women took care of Olivia. They talked about sports, the bakery, Olivia's nickname, and many other mundane things to keep their minds occupied from over worrying.

The women came out a while later looking frazzled, but both were smiling. Lila walked into Nathaniel's open arms. Fitz immediately stood up, his face full of concern. "How is she, Abby?"

"Her fever has gone down. Not back to normal, but much lower than it has been. Sometimes it just takes time. It's a good sign." Abby felt so relieved to share some good news after a long difficult worry filled night. "She's awake and asking for you."

Fitz ran back to Olivia's bedroom while her parents and Abby watched. "I do believe our baby has found a real good man, Lila. He seems to really love her."

Abby smiled and added, "You should see the two of them together. They are very affectionate. And funny. He does love her. And she loves him. It's the real thing with them." Abby sat down at the table with Olivia's parents and told them more.

Fitz tiptoed into Olivia's room, much like he had done when he got home from work several hours before. She was sitting up in bed sipping her Gatorade. When she saw Fitz she patted the spot on the bed beside her. Fitz smiled and climbed under the blankets with her. Olivia immediately curled into his side. They sat there for a few moments holding each other.

"I'm probably contagious." Her voice sounded like she had swallowed sandpaper. "Mom is pretty sure I have strep throat." She tried to pull out of his arms, but he held her in place easily in her weakened state.

"I'll chance it. Besides, then you can take care of me. I'm gonna want you to wear a sexy nurse outfit though. With those sheer thigh high things. And a garter! Please make me sick, Miss Pope."

Olivia rolled her eyes and swatted his arm. "You are already sick if you think I'm taking care of you and wearing all that crap." She laughed and winced. "Don't make me laugh. It hurts my throat."

"I'm sorry, babe." He played with her hair for a few moments and asked, "What is the plan? Are you going to the doctor tomorrow? I really think you should. It would make me feel better if you did."

"Well, let's do everything in our power to make sure you are feeling better then. By all means." She sassed. "I know my mother will make me go to the doctor in the morning. There is no doubt about that."

"Even when you have a fever you're a smartass. That's good to know." He said sarcastically.

Olivia sighed and took a sip of her drink. The bottle was almost half empty. "Hey! I peed! Isn't that exciting?"

Fitz scrunched up his face. How do you respond to that, he wondered? "Yea. Exciting." he said blandly.

"It means I'm finally producing urine. That is a good thing. If I wasn't, this could be more than strep. It still could be." She thought about that for a minute.

"Hey! I forgot to tell you!" Fitz exclaimed.

"What?" She inquired.

"I love you so much. And I'm really glad you are starting to feel better. You scared the shit out of me." He put his index finger under her chin and directed her gaze up at him. "Please don't make a habit out of getting sick."

Olivia smiled weakly at him. "Yes, Sir." It earned her a surprised smile from Fitz.

"I could get used to you answering me like that."

"Don't. It's probably the meds talking."

"How much do you remember from your delirious fevered state?" Surely she hadn't remembered the bad stuff?

"I remember you and Abby stripping me naked.."

"Abby did that all by herself. I was holding you like the precious angel that you are." Fitz didn't even feel a little bit guilty for throwing Abby under the bus for that one.

"...and throwing me into the bath tub..."

"I gently placed you in the tub and you sat on my lap the whole time. You were clinging to my neck like I might drown you, I might add."

"...full of frozen water..."

"It was lukewarm."

"...and dumping cups of that frozen water all over my body."

"Well, yea, I did do that. But again, the water wasn't frozen."

"I remember Abby putting some warm clothes on me and hugging me to keep me warm."

"I love how Abby gets all the credit! Did you know your precious Abby refused to sleep in here with you because she didn't want to get sick? I didn't think so." Fitz pouted.

"She has a really big case coming up and she has to be on her game for it. She doesn't have time to be sick." Olivia teased.

"I'm feeling a little under appreciated right now."

"You're such a baby. God! I hope you never get sick!"

"You are a manipulator when you are sick! But I bet you don't remember that little fact, huh?"

"What are you talking about? I'm not a manipulator! That's preposterous! I was sick. I AM sick!" She shouted, followed by a wince. She took a huge gulp of her drink and settled back down.

"Miss Pope, you are terrible when you are sick. And you used the fact that I am in love with you to your advantage, whether you realized it at the time or not." Fitz smirked.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Olivia whispered. Her throat felt like fire, but she wasn't letting this go. She wanted to know.

"For starters, when I told you that you needed to get into the tub to help bring your fever down, you got very cuddly with me and basically baby talked your reply; which was, 'I don't wanna take a bath now, Fitz. I'll do it later. I promise, Fitz. Just hold me.' He mimicked her baby voice and thought it sounded pretty accurate. Olivia squinted her eyes at him.

"I did no such thing! You are lying!"

"Really Miss Pope? Who would have the better recollection of what transpired here tonight? A fevered manipulator? Or a healthy man?"

"It's true, Munchkin."

Olivia and Fitz looked up at the doorway and saw both of Olivia's parents as well as Abby standing there. All three had grins on their faces. "What are you talking about dad?"

Fitz had more respect for Olivia's dad in that moment than any other. He felt so much smugger.

"Whenever you got sick as a kid, you would try to make deals and bargain your way out of doing what needed to be done for you to get better. Every single time. It was cute when you were little. But it was really annoying when you were a teenager." He laughed loudly, and pretty soon everyone in the room was laughing too. Except Olivia. "It's probably why you are such a terrific lawyer. You started young."

"Remember that one time in college when you got sick? You almost drove me crazy. You were whiney as hell." Abby chimed in happily.

"Well, it's nice to know I have such a great support system who all think I am a pain in the ass when I'm sick. Next time I'll drive myself to the hospital." She pouted.

"You're feeling better aren't you, baby? I'd say we did our job and did it well. A whiney little girl, whom we all love to pieces, is no match for our steel determination." Lila said.

"Momma! Not you too!" Liv whined.

"Is that a whiney voice I hear?"

"No momma. But..."

"I think your fever might be going back up. You need to get some more rest now." Fitz tried unsuccessfully to hide a huge grin from his face as her mother basically told her what to do. He was gonna buy that woman a dozen roses tomorrow!

"Whiney girls need naps, Miss Pope. Besides, don't talk back to your mother." Fitz touched her nose and grinned at her.

"But you talk back to your..." Fitz kissed her on the mouth. Germs be damned. He didn't want her parents to know he talked back to his mother at times. He got the feeling that they kind of liked him. He didn't want the fevered devil messing that up. "Will you lay with me, babe?"

Fitz was getting whiplash from her emotions. One minute she was whiney. The next she was sarcastic. Then mean. Then a tattle tale. And now sweet. He loved all of her sides, but this sick side was dizzying. He'd learn to love it eventually. But right now Fitz was bone tired. He could do with some actual sleep. Not the kind that involved watching her breathe or checking her temperature every hour.

"Do you promise not to breathe on me? I have a big case coming up and I really don't have time to be sick." He mimicked Olivia's scratchy voice and it got him a pinch from her. Fitz yawned. "I suppose I could use a few hours of sleep. You stay on your side of the bed though. I don't want your whiney germs." He heard chuckles from the other adults in the room.

"Liv? I'm going to head home. You have more than enough people to take care of you now. Call me tomorrow at some point. Let me know what the doctor says. I'll let everyone in the office know that you are sick. Nite, Liv."

"Thank you for everything, Abby. Even the torture." Oliva said through a loud yawn.

Abby chuckled and said, "Any time. Feel better, Liv. I love you."

"Love you too. Bye."

"If you need anything just yell for me, baby. We'll just be in the living room. Whatever you need." Lila offered. "Fitz needs to get some rest too. He's been running himself ragged taking care of you all night. Just like he should have. Let the man sleep. You get some sleep too, missy."

"Yes, momma. I will." Olivia whispered.

As soon as Fitz got under the blankets, Olivia laid her head on his chest and his arm happily went around her little frame. He immediately fell asleep knowing she was going to be fine. Olivia heard her parents whisper goodnight to them and turn off the light in her bedroom. She smiled in the dark room as she snuggled close to this crazy man that she was absolutely crazy about. Her parents liked Fitz. They were proud of the way he had taken care of her too. It warmed her heart. It was all she wanted. She drifted off to sleep almost as fast as Fitz had.

********************************************************  
Later that afternoon, Olivia was sitting in the car with her parents while Fitz went in the pharmacy to pick up her prescriptions. The doctor had diagnosed her with strep throat and a severe sinus infection. She had been given three prescriptions and was told to get plenty of rest and take the meds until they were gone.

As they sat in the car, Olivia's dad looked at his daughter through the rearview mirror. "How are you feeling Munchkin?"

"I don't know how one person can sleep as much as I did and still be completely exhausted, but I just want to go to bed." She replied. "Did you sleep ok last night?"

"I slept just fine, baby." The truth was Nathaniel hadn't slept much at all knowing his daughter was sick. And her couch was terrible for sleeping on. But he spoke like he had gotten eight solid hours of peaceful sleep.

"Tell me what you both think about Fitz." Olivia asked.

Olivia's mom turned around from the passenger seat. "He's handsome and funny. And if last night was any kind of test, I'd say he passed it with flying colors. That man loves you, baby. He was almost as worried as I was. And that's saying something, because I gave birth to you! I think you picked a good man to swim with." Lila smiled at her daughter.

She smiled at her mother's assessment. "What do you think, Daddy?"

This was his opportunity. Nathaniel could say something negative about Fitz and his daughter would probably drop him like a hot potato, and he would once again be the only man in his daughter's life. It was tempting. It really was. But he couldn't lie to his daughter. He didn't want to. Fitz was a good man, from what Nathaniel had seen. He loved Olivia with all his heart. He put her above himself. He made her laugh. Fitz was taking his place as Olivia's number one guy. It made Nathaniel sad, but also very proud. She was in love.

"I think you have found a man who loves you so deeply and fiercely that as much as I'd like to kick his ass for it, I admire him for being worthy enough to capture your mind and attention. I think he makes you happy. And that's what I expect him to do."

"I expect that from him too because I watched my dad make my mom happy every single day." She hugged his neck from the back seat and melted his heart completely.

Fitz walked toward the car from the pharmacy with two bouquets of roses in one hand and a small white bag filled with medicine in the other. He gave one bouquet to Lila and watched her face light up with surprised joy. And the other he gave to the love of his life in the backseat of her parent's car.


	23. Little Surprises

Little Surprises

Fitz sent Olivia a text message:  
 _I'm in the building. Are my girls ready?_

Olivia rolled her eyes dramatically before responding.  
 _In my office waiting on PC_

What the hell did that mean?  
 _PC?_

Olivia chuckled.  
 _Prince Charming_

"What are you laughing at?" Yvonne asked.

"Is Fitz texting you? Is it dirty? I wanna see it!" Abby demanded.

"I wanna see it too!" Yvonne chimed in.

"He is texting me. It isn't dirty. You're not seeing it. Chill out. The two of you are acting like you are going to lunch with her Majesty the Queen." Olivia chided.

"Way better!" Abby said.

"Fitz is treating us to lunch this afternoon. Who needs a queen when we have a king?" Yvonne giddily questioned.

"I hate my life right now," Olivia whined.

"Wanna trade?" Yvonne asked, wiggling her eyebrows.

"NO!"

Just then there was a knock on her office door right before he walked in, grinning like a madman. He hugged Yvonne and Abby, gave Olivia a kiss and asked if they were ready to go? "Should we bow or curtsy?" Asked Yvonne. It got a laugh from Abby but Fitz gave her a questioning look.

"Stop it, or you're not going." Olivia chided.

"Awww mom. You're no fun." Yvonne sang with a smile.

Olivia looked at Fitz. "This is my fault. I never should have brought you here in the first place. You have ruined everything at work."

Fitz cocked his head to the side and gave her a look. "Have you checked everything here at work to make sure it is in fact ruined, Miss Pope?" Olivia pointed her finger at him and opened her mouth to speak but he held her hand and said, "I didn't think so."

Yvonne and Abby followed the couple and snickers could be heard in between their murmured conversation. Olivia would look over her shoulder and shoot them a look every so often, but they weren't scared of her right now. They had Fitz to protect them. And that made it even funnier.

The four of them stepped onto the elevator and since it was mostly empty, stood in a circle so they could talk. "Where would you ladies like to go for lunch today?"

It was the normal 'I don't care', 'it doesn't matter', and 'you choose'. Fitz wondered why it was so difficult for women to choose a place to eat? One woman was manageable. But today he had three to make happy. They ate like damn birds anyway. He should just take them to the park and sprinkle out some bread crumbs. The thought made him chuckle and three heads turned in his direction to see what was so funny. He just smiled back in silence. His momma didn't raise a fool!

They exited the elevator and went outside. As they walked the busy New York streets with the throngs of other people in search of lunch, they passed what some would call a hole in the ground type of  
establishment. Fitz, hungry and not leaving the decision up to three indecisive women, ducked inside and pulled Olivia with him. The other two followed.

"What is this place?" Olivia asked. "Have you been here before?"

"This is where we are dining. And, no. I haven't been here before. But something..." He started.

"Smells delicious!" Abby finished. She led the way to an empty booth and sat down, not caring if they joined her or not. She was now famished. She grabbed a plastic menu from the table and immediately noticed it felt sticky. She grabbed a couple of napkins from the dispenser and continued looking through it, unfazed. Yvonne sat down beside her and Fitz followed her and sat across from the two women.

Olivia was still standing near the door looking around. She wasn't sure about this place. It looked sketchy at best. But it was almost filled with patrons. And none of them seemed to be dying from the food. Still. She glanced around the walls near the cash register and saw the health inspection. This particular establishment had been recently inspected and had a framed copy of it. Their score was a perfect 100. Olivia wondered how in the world that had been accomplished?

Willing to give it the benefit of the doubt, she wandered over to the happy trio who were laughing together. "I thought maybe you had ordered yours to go and were waiting for it?" Fitz said with a smirk.

"You're hilarious." Olivia said blandly. "Let's see if the food is any good."

The four of them ordered their food and sat sipping on their drinks while they waited for it. In the middle of Fitz and Abby telling Yvonne about when Olivia was sick, a woman passed by their table and then doubled back to it. "Fitz?"

Four heads turned in her direction and the woman watched as recognition bloomed on his face. "Suzanne? Hey!" Fitz stood up and hugged the woman as the two quickly caught up with each other.

Fitz noticed the polite smiles on the three women's faces at the table. "I'm so sorry! Suzanne, this is Abby and Yvonne." He pulled Olivia up to his side and said, "And this is my girlfriend, Olivia."

Olivia shook her hand and said, "It's very nice to meet you, Suzanne."

"It's nice to meet you too, Olivia." She said.

"Suzanne is a teacher at one of the schools that have been on a field trip to the bakery." Fitz explained. "Her daughter is completely adorable. One of my favorite visitors in the kitchen. Very serious about baking."

"Desserts are something to be very serious about," Olivia added. Fitz's fingers gripped her hip a little tighter.

"Did you have a nice birthday, Fitz?" Suzanne asked.

Olivia looked up at Fitz and sensed that he was uncomfortable. "Ahhhh I didn't really do much this year. It was kinda quiet actually," he said with a smile.

"Oh. Well, quiet nights are special too. I won't keep you from your lunch. Have a great afternoon. Nice to meet you all. Good to see you again, Fitz." The waiter brought the food and Olivia and Fitz said their goodbyes to Suzanne.

"Who was that bitch?" Yvonne whispered to Abby?

"Suzanne!" Abby said overenthusiastically and then folded her arms with a grimace. "I don't trust her."

"It's a good thing she left when she did. I really didn't want to get an inch of grease on my bare foot from this floor when I took my shoe off and beat her with it. Bitch." Yvonne whispered. But it appeared that neither Fitz or Olivia had heard their little exchange because they were deep in conversation with each other.

"She was nice. Is she married?" Olivia asked.

Fitz grinned at her. His girl was...jealous? That was ridiculous. But very cute. "As a matter of fact she is. To the principal of the school she teaches at. He's actually a friend of mine." He pecked her lips once. "And they are more ridiculous to be around in public than you described how your parents are at home." Olivia chuckled and he breathed a little easier. "She only knows when my birthday is because the kids made me cake last year and sang to me. It was cute."

"So when is your birthday? Apparently I missed it." Olivia smiled. As soon as the words were out of Olivia's mouth, she sensed his discomfort again. She wondered if he was one of those weird people who don't celebrate birthdays. She hoped not. She celebrated her birthday all week long!

"It was last week. Last Thursday, to be exact." Fitz watched her mentally count the days back and knew the moment of recognition hit her. Her face went from questioning to shock to horror!

Yvonne was still rambling about beating Suzanne's ass when Abby nudged her in the ribs and whispered, "Shut the hell up. We're missing plot points here."

"Ohmygod!" Olivia screeched.

"It's no big deal, babe." Fitz soothed.

"What's no big deal?" Yvonne asked sweetly. And was ignored.

"Honestly," Fitz placated. "Please don't worry about it."

"What aren't we worrying about, babe? I mean Fitz?" Yvonne smirked. But again, no one was paying attention to her.

"Liv? What is it?" Abby asked.

"Fitz's birthday was last Thursday!" She exclaimed.

"Oh. Happy belated birthday, Fitz." Abby said ignorantly.

"Thank you Ab..."

"Abby! Last Thursday was the night I was running a fever! I missed his birthday. We didn't get to celebrate because I was sick and he was taking care of me. I feel so bad, babe. I'm so sorry." She turned her face into his chest and he chuckled at her.

"I was right where I wanted to be, doing exactly what I wanted to be doing that night." Fitz said.

Olivia had the beginnings of a plan forming in her mind. But she could play dumb for now. "Are you sure? Everyone wants to celebrate their birthday. Maybe we can do something this weekend? Go on a short trip to the beach or something?" She didn't know where that idea came from, but a weekend at the beach sounded divine.

"Are you saying I'd be spending the weekend seeing you in a bathing suit, Miss Pope?" They were leaving as soon as she got home from work on Friday!

She leaned close to his ear and licked the shell of it. "And out of it." She whispered. She might call in sick on Friday so they could leave Thursday night.

"The beach it is then," he stated firmly. "I already can't wait."

Yvonne and Abby watched their sexy exchange from the other side of the booth with their mouths hanging open. "I need a cigarette." Abby joked.

"I want to go to the beach with them. Can you imagine Fitz in a speedo? Well, I don't think they make them big enough to hide that thing." Yvonne said seriously. "Besides, he's probably a swim trunk kinda guy. Imagine his chest glistening from suntan lotion as he lays in the sand working on his tan."

"Keep it in your pants, Yvonne." Abby joked.

The four of them ate their delicious lunch and Fitz left a hefty tip. He loved finding new places to eat. They walked outside and Fitz told Abby and Yvonne goodbye. The two women started walking back to the office at a slow rate while Fitz and Olivia said their goodbyes.

"I'm really excited about our weekend plans, babe." Olivia flirted. "I might start packing tonight."

Fitz wrapped his arms around her as they stood on the busy sidewalk and grinned at her. "All you need to pack is a bathing suit. You won't be wearing anything else."

"Is that a fact, Mr. Grant?"

"It is indeed, Miss Pope. And anything else that you bring will not make it onto your body. That's a promise." He leaned down and kissed her with all the anxiousness he was feeling about the upcoming trip. He tried pulling away from her, but the hand she had on the back of his neck held his lips on hers.

Forceful Olivia was sexy.

"I'll keep that in mind. I have to go back to work now. And so do you." She was feeling playful, and as he started walking in the opposite direction, she shouted, "My bikini is blue. Good luck getting anything accomplished this afternoon, Mister." She watched him clutch his heart in a dramatic fashion and smiled at him amongst the people.

As she continued to the office, Olivia knew she had to put her plan into motion quickly. She only had a few hours to get things done. Time would not be her friend today. But she was determined to take care of it. For Fitz.

*******************************************************************************  
The closer he got to Oliva's front door, Fitz saw a note taped to it. When he reached it, he noticed his name written on the note so he pulled it off the door and opened it. It said:  
 _Roses are red,_  
 _Violets are blue,_  
 _Get your ass in the house!_

Fitz grinned and wondered what his girl was up to? There was only one way to find out. He opened the door and stepped inside. He noticed the table was set and there were candles burning softly in the center. Soft music was playing throughout the house too. But Olivia was nowhere to be seen.

She came in the kitchen and saw him standing there admiring the table. She wrapped her arms around his neck and said, "Welcome home." She pulled him to her and kissed him softly as his arms wound around her waist.

He pulled back from the kiss and gave her a smile. "How come I don't get greeted like this every day when I get here?" His hands had wandered south and were currently kneading her ass. "I could get used to this you know."

"This is my attempt to make up for missing your birthday." He started to pull away from her in protest, but she stood firm and put his hands back on her butt. He raised his eyebrows at her. "I made dinner."

Fitz gave her a look. "Ok. I had dinner delivered. But I didn't have enough time to cook since I just found out that I missed your birthday at lunchtime today. Besides, I need another cooking lesson to widen my expertise."

"I'll widen something for you." He smirked. His hands resumed kneading her lower cheeks. "We do need another cooking lesson though. The one we had was very informative."

Olivia shook her head. "I want another one really soon, Mister." She captured his lips in a heated kiss. Their tongues fought for dominance and their hands groped for flesh. Their breathing became laborious and dinner was becoming less important.

Fitz picked her up in his arms and started carrying her to the bedroom. Olivia was clinging to his neck like she was drowning. She opened her eyes and saw where they were. "What about dinner?" She asked between kisses.

"It's my birthday celebration. And I want dessert first." He put her down on her bed and pulled his shirt over his head.

"Hurry" She whispered.

"You have on too many clothes." He pulled her to her knees and slowly unbuttoned her shirt, licking her flesh as it became exposed to him. When the last button was opened, he swiped his tongue across her flat brown belly and felt her muscles twitch.

He came back up to her face and kissed her passionately as he slid her shirt off her shoulders. Fitz loved the feel of her skin. And he loved discovering the places that made her sigh or laugh or moan. His hands moved to her lower back and he felt her arch into his touch. The ways her body responded to him drove him to want to discover more. He pulled her onto his lap, straddling him.

His left hand slid up her back and unclasped her bra. Fitz dipped his head, grabbed onto the lace material with his teeth, and pulled it off her. When he looked up to Olivia's face, he saw that her eyes were closed. Her back was still arched, an invitation for him to taste. He wasted no time and latched onto her nipple, sucking it with great ferocity. He heard her moan and her hips started grinding on his lap. He released her nipple from his mouth an licked his way over to the other one. But instead of sucking on the nipple, he ran circles around it with the tip of his tongue. Fitz noticed her hip motion had slowed down some, so he opened his mouth and sucked hard. The grinding returned.

He released her breast from his mouth and quickly laid her down. She still had her dress pants on and he wasted no time pulling them off and flinging them to the floor. The only thing between him and his dessert was a little scrap of peach lace. The lace didn't stand a chance.

Olivia watched him discard his own jeans and slowly crawl up her body, planting wet kisses on her skin as he went. When he was face to face with her he held onto her body and rolled with her. Now she was on top of him. He swiveled his hips against hers. She moaned when she felt his hard length rub her ready core and Fitz was convinced there was no sexier sound on earth. He grinned at her and pushed her hair behind her ears. "We are celebrating my birthday, right?"

"MmmmHmmm." She grinned back at him.

"And you'd do anything to make my birthday special. Because you owe me for missing my actual birthday. Right?" His grin was getting wider.

Olivia knew when she was being played. "What do you want, Grant?"

Fitz kissed her nose and gleefully said, "I want you to dance for me. A sexy dance. And then I want you to bring my dessert to me. And I want it just like I had it the very first time too. Please."

Olivia raised an eyebrow at him. He wasn't asking for much. Nothing that she wasn't willing to do. She grabbed two fistfuls of his curly hair and kissed him feverishly, letting her tongue slide into his mouth like silk. She heard him hum in appreciation. She used the two hands in his hair to pull his head back away from her and saw the cute annoyed look on his face. "This is for the birthday boy."

She started to get off her bed and heard him clear his throat and say, "Man. You mean the birthday man."

She put her fingers over her mouth and eyed the erection trying to break out of his underwear. She crawled up and pecked it once before winking at Fitz and saying, "This is for the birthday man." Fitz tried to grab her but she evaded him.

Olivia walked all the way to the bedroom door as the music started. She turned her back to Fitz and started moving to the music. She slowly slid her hands down to her hips and started swaying them back and forth. She raised her arms over her head and lifted her right leg. In one fluid motion, she swung it in front of her body in a wide arc from left to right. She leaned down on her right leg and touched her toes. Then she slowly rolled her body back up to standing. Olivia looked over her shoulder at him His mouth was hanging open and his eyes were glued to her every moment. She turned around to face him and placed her hands on the inside of her knees. She used her hands to open her legs as her body dropped low. She snapped them closed as she stood back up with a swivel of her hips. She heard Fitz groan in approval at her dancing.

She took the few steps to the closest of the four posters of her bed. She grabbed it with one hand and dropped low to the floor. Olivia saw Fitz leaning over the side of the bed to watch her and she threw her head back and thrust her hips towards the post a few times. She repeated the act with the post and Fitz almost fell off the bed. She let go of the post and spun in a circle once until she was once again standing at the foot of the bed facing him. She took a moment to catch her breath.

Fitz whispered, "THAT was hot as hell!"

Olivia stood up on the bed and walked toward him with her feet on either side of his body. He just sat there staring at her in mute amazement. She stopped in front of him and slid her panties down her hips as she watched his eyes darken with lust. She stepped out of them and pointed at him. "Lay down birthday man. Now."

All he could say was "Yes ma'am" and he lay his head down on the pillow. She sat on his chest and held onto her headboard. Fitz grabbed her ass and slid her core closer to his face. He was beyond turned on right now, but was not going to rush this like the last time. He stuck his tongue out and started working her lower body. Olivia had her eyes closed and her face was contorted somewhere between pain and pleasure as she moaned his name and panted and cursed. He continued his slow assault on her and watched as her facial expressions changed as he brought her to her first climax. Not wasting any time at all, Fitz kept going, but at a much faster rate this time.

Olivia was screaming and moving her hips to the movement of his gifted tongue. "Don't stop, babe. Please. Don't ever stop."

Fitz could feel that she was close to losing it again. Her face also gave her away as he watched it build to explosion. The cursing and I love you's were also a give away. His tongue was relentless on her most sensitive spot and he watched her fall apart in front of him. There was her blissful face. He pulled her down onto his chest and covered her up as the after shocks made her tremble. He wrapped his arm around her like he always did and she snuggled close to him. "That was amazing! Best birthday ever!" He happily exclaimed.

Olivia opened her eyes and popped out of bed telling him, "I'll be right back." He wondered where in the hell she was going. But he didn't mind the view as she left.

A few minutes later, Olivia walked back into the bedroom, stark naked, with a lopsided cake with blue icing and a single lit candle sticking out of the middle of it. She sat on the bed holding it and sang happy birthday to him as he grinned at her.

"Where did you get this?" He swiped his finger into the icing and stuck it in his mouth. It was good cake.

Olivia smiled at him proudly. "I made this today."

Fitz sat up straighter in bed. "I haven't taught you how to make a cake. How did you do it?"

"There's this new app called YouTube and it has all kinds of tutorials on it." She replied sarcastically. "Very easy step by step instr..."

"I know what a tutorial is, Miss Pope. Smartass."

"Well, I found one that walked me through the task of making a cake. It's not perfect like you make, but..."

"You let someone else teach you how to cook? I'm wounded." He pouted playfully. "Was this an interactive video?"

Olivia grinned at him. "Not at all. I only interact with one chef." She leaned to him and kissed his lips. "Make a wish and blow out the candle."

Fitz closed his eyes and sucked in a breath as Olivia watched. He released his breath, opened his eyes, and blew out the candle with his eyes on her.

"Did you make a wish?" She asked.

Fitz picked up the cake and set it on the nightstand. He pulled Olivia into his arms, kissed her lovingly and said, "It's already come true."


	24. Later, Bro

**This is a shout out to my "editor". My friend and fellow Gladiator. My sister from another mister. A woman who pushes me to keep writing when I don't feel like it or get lazy. She reads my chapters before anyone else when I send them to her. Day or night, without complaining. She is my biggest FF cheerleader. And I've never even met her in person! Thank you for being so awesome, Lori. And for being as perverted as I can sometimes be when it comes to Fitz Haha**

Later, Bro

Fitz looked at the medium sized bag sitting on the floor near Olivia's door and gave her a look. "What the hell is this?"

"What do you mean? It's my bag for the weekend." She replied defensively.

"I thought we agreed that all you'd need is a bathing suit?" He shot back.

"You're joking, right? I'm a female. We don't go anywhere without a ton of stuff. Be thankful I whittled it down to just one bag. I had three when I started." She chuckled at his confused look.

It was Friday afternoon and the two of them had met at her house to get their stuff in the car and get the hell out of dodge. The two hour drive would be an interesting one after they both had had full days at work, but a night walk on the beach was the first thing on the agenda. They just had to survive the car ride together first.

Fitz was not impressed. "Three bags for two days? You know that's insane, right? We're going to be swimming, tanning, eating, and having sex everywhere. None of those things requires clothing. And a bathing suit is only suggested for one of them. So, again, why do you have a bag full of stuff when you are going to spend the bulk of your time naked?"

Olivia patted his cheek lovingly with a huge smile on her face. "It's also your birthday celebration. I might have bought something leather. Or lacy. Or edible. So that we can celebrate in a fun way." She started riffling through her bag, trying not to smile as she finished. "But I'll just grab my bathing suit and we can leave everything else here."

"Nope! Never mind. If it's already packed, it's fine." Fitz hastily grabbed the bag and headed out the door. Leather? Edible? He couldn't wait. "You lock up and I'll meet you at the car."

"Fine, but stay out of my bag, Mister. I'll be right down." She watched him give her a grin and walk out the door. Olivia grabbed her purse, phone, and sunglasses, and locked her front door. She walked to his car and saw Fitz patiently waiting for her and standing beside the passenger door. His sunglasses were on his face and the breeze was blowing his curls into disarray. It just made him look sexier somehow.

Olivia stepped close to him. They were chest to chest and everything else was lined up as well. He put his arms around her waist and she put her hands on his broad shoulders. "I just want you to know that this weekend is for you. Whatever you want to do. However you want to do it." She saw his eyebrows go up past the tinted frame of his sunglasses. She stood up on her tiptoes and kissed him passionately until he was breathless. When he pulled away from her for air, she added, "But I get to control the radio in the car."

Fitz slapped her ass and said on a chuckle, "Very sneaky, Miss Pope." He opened the door for her and then closed it behind her once she was settled. When he was behind the driver's seat and had his seat belt on, he looked over at her and said, "Did you really buy something leather?"

She grinned at him and said, "Would you rather I told you now? Or showed you later?"

His eyes glazed over for a second. Fitz picked up her hand, planted a kiss on her palm, and said "Well played. I'll wait." Before he drove off Fitz watched her flip through every channel on the radio once until she settled on one she liked. When the song was over, she fiddled with the radio again. She was a channel flipper! Fitz was pretty sure he was going to lose his mind before they got to their destination.

An hour later, Olivia asked Fitz to find a convenience store so she could get some snacks. At this point, he was willing to stop anywhere to get her away from the radio buttons. They had listened to an entire song from start to finish twice. Why couldn't she sleep on road trips like other women?

They both took advantage of a bathroom break and then proceeded to pick up random snacks for the last leg of the trip. They took their stuff up to the register to pay for their items. Olivia and Fitz looked at the things the other had picked up and made a face at the same time. Olivia had picked up a bag of granola and a fruit juice. Fitz had picked up a soda and a bag of Cheetos. As well as a Snickers.

"What? Are you twelve years old?" She asked.

"Thirteen. I just had a birthday." He stuck his tongue out at her. "Are you ninety? We're in a convenience store. No one buys that crap."

"You eat your snacks and I'll eat mine. And when I live to be ninety, you'll understand why." She stuck her tongue out at him and walked out the door, leaving him to pay for everything.

After the fifteen minute break, Olivia was back to annoying the hell out of him with the radio. He turned off the radio and tried conversation. "What does your week look like when we get back?" Olivia burst out laughing at him. "What?" He asked.

"It's the radio thing isn't it?" When Fitz remained quiet she said, "It's ok. Abby says she hates riding in the car with me because I make her want to drive off a cliff with my button pushing. I'm sorry. I thought she was exaggerating."

Fitz grimaced at her and reminded himself he loved all of her sides. "I haven't seen any cliffs to drive off. I love you, woman. But you make me want to tie you up."

"Just because of the radio? Or are you talking about in general?" She smirked at him and waited for his reply.

"Just for the radio. I'm sure being tied up is exciting for some people, but I prefer to feel your hands on my body while mine are on yours. I'm pretty open minded though. I'd try it if you were into it." Fitz offered.

"I'll keep that in mind." She paused for a moment and asked, "Do you want some granola?" Fitz made a face, popped a Cheeto in his mouth, and turned the radio back on. Olivia laughed.

Thirty minutes later they pulled up in front of a cute white beach house right on the water. Fitz was trying to get the bags out of the car, but Olivia grabbed his hand and dragged him off towards the water. "The sun is setting! Let's go watch it." She said excitedly as she slipped off her shoes, leaving them beside the car.

Fitz was a few steps behind her, still holding her hand and trying to keep up. The crashing roar of the ocean waves grew louder. The dry warm sand under their feet eventually turned firm and wet. Seashells could be seen at every step. The water felt warm on their feet as they stepped into it until it covered their ankles. The sun was slowly making it's descent, appearing to sink right into the ocean.

Fitz had seen the sun set on the ocean a million times. He was watching Olivia instead. Her face seemed to be in complete peace. Her sunglasses were sitting on top of her head. Her eyes were closed as if  
soaking up the last of the suns warmth. Her hair was blowing wildly in every direction. She was smiling her content smile. She was absolutely beautiful.

When the sun finally disappeared, Fitz pulled her into his arms and began waltzing with her right there in the ocean. Charmed, Olivia laid her head on his shoulder and swayed with him to the sound of the waves. Fitz rubbed little circles on her hand and tightened his hold on her every time the water came rushing over their feet toward the shore.

Olivia picked up her head and smiled at him. "Which romance movie did you get that idea from?"

Fitz kissed her nose. "I have told you over and over that I am a damn catch. One of these days you will believe me, Miss Pope. I don't need a chick flick to teach me how to be suave. It comes naturally to the Grant men." He dipped Olivia while she rolled her eyes, and brought her back up to his chest. "You haven't ever seen Ryan Gosling dancing with a woman in the ocean. And if you have, he probably learned it from me."

"I love how humble you are too." Olivia chuckled. She stilled in his arms, wrapped hers around his neck, and stared into his beautiful blue eyes. "I'm really glad we came here. The beach has always been my happy place. I absolutely love it."

"I absolutely love you." Fitz put his hand on the back of her neck and brought her lips to his. He sucked on her bottom lip for a moment before covering her lips with his own in a tender kiss. His tongue slid into her mouth and Olivia groaned greedily. Still waltzing in a slow circle, Fitz pulled away from her mouth and hugged her tightly. "We need to get the bags from the car. How about a bath together after we get settled? And then maybe...something leather?"

Olivia chuckled at him and said "A bath sounds heavenly. We'll see about the leather."

The next morning Fitz got up early and made coffee. He was sitting on the terrace in his pajama bottoms, watching the sun make it's appearance while he sipped his coffee and enjoyed the peace and quiet, while Olivia slept. A smile ghosted his lips as he recalled keeping her up very late the night before. It was almost two a.m. before he collapsed on the bed beside her and slept like the dead. He figured he owed her a little more time to rest. The little leather thing she had brought with her was going to have to be brought out again. Soon.

He had been sitting outside for over an hour, but now he was getting stir crazy. It wasn't peaceful anymore. It was boring. And already getting hot outside. He needed to be on a beach towel down by the water. He wanted to talk Olivia into rubbing some tanning oil on his back and chest. And he really wanted to rub some all over her too. He couldn't wait to see her blue bikini. He walked inside, leaving the sliding glass door open to allow the breeze to blow through the little house.

Olivia was wrapped up in the sheet, sprawled out on the queen sized bed, face down, and blissfully asleep. Her face was the definition of tranquil. A strand of hair was laying across her cheek. Her bare brown arms and legs were bent at random angles and were sticking out of the sheet. In fact, the sheet was barely covering her bare ass, Fitz noticed. He really wanted to wake her up and get out on the sand. But how to wake her up?

He could jump on the bed like a five year old on Christmas morning. He could kiss his way from her toes up to her face until she opened her eyes. He could make a lot of noise in hopes of her waking up on her own. But a better idea came to him. He riffled through his bag, (he never said he couldn't bring clothes), threw on a pair of shorts, a bakery t-shirt, and his flip flops. He scribbled a note to Olivia in case she woke up while he was gone, and walked outside to his car.

Fitz drove to the little over priced beach supermarket and grabbed a few things. He drove back to the house and let himself in as quietly as he could. He threw the note away and started breakfast. He scrambled some eggs and made some toast and fresh coffee. He found some jam in the refrigerator and spread it generously on the browned crunchy bread.

He searched through the cabinets and found what he was looking for. A small wicker tray. He loaded a plate with the items he had just cooked, poured her a cup of coffee, and added the single rose he bought on impulse at the store. It was perfect. He smiled and mentally gave himself lots of credit for being such a stud. All he had to do was take it to her and wait for the grateful girlfriend praise.

He picked up the tray and carried it into the bedroom, not even trying to hide his proud grin. But Olivia wasn't there. He glanced around the room but didn't see her. Maybe she was in the bathroom? He walked to the door and called her name, but got no response. Fitz wandered out to the living room. No sign on her.

He heard her contented sigh and followed the sound. He walked out the open door and found her sitting on the terrace, wrapped up in the bed sheet, staring at the ocean. Her skin was wet from a shower. She smiled when she saw him and said, "Good morning. Whatcha got there?"

Not wanting to give up on the grateful girlfriend praise, Fitz smiled back and said, "Breakfast. Are you hungry?"

"I ate a granola bar I had packed in my bag while you were gone to the store. It looks good though. I'll sit with you while you eat it." She pulled out a chair as Fitz hesitantly set the tray down. His proud grin was gone.

He picked up the fork, speared some eggs, and reluctantly pulled it to his mouth. Just as he was about to take a bite, Olivia said, "Really? You're going to eat my breakfast?"

Confused, Fitz replied, "You said you already ate something?"

"So you just give up? Just like that? Wow. Good to know." She teased.

"What the hell did just happened?" He asked.

"I was messing with you. I don't eat granola bars for breakfast. I want food! Gimme my breakfast." She held her hand out for the tray.

This woman was making his head hurt. "Say please." He commanded.

"No." She said defiantly.

"No please, no breakfast. It's your loss too because I rock at making breakfast food." He said triumphantly. He put the fork up to his lips and looked at her, giving her one more chance to ask politely.

"Take one bite of my breakfast, Fitzgerald and you will regret it." She threatened.

"Pffff. What are you gonna do?" He asked sarcastically, and opened his mouth.

Olivia stood up, dropped the sheet, and walked in the house bare ass naked.

Fitz dropped the fork and it clattered onto the tray before falling on the ground. He left it where it was, picked the tray back up, and scurried into the house behind her. "Where do you want to eat your breakfast?" He asked in a serious tone.

"How about on the bed? Which is where, I'm guessing, you were going to bring it to me to begin with. But then I ruined your plans. I'm sorry about that. How about I eat my breakfast while you eat yours? And then can we go down to the beach?" She smiled at him and sprawled out on top of the bed. Fitz decided he was going to cook breakfast tomorrow morning too!

An hour later, they were taking their beach gear down to the water's edge. The sun was warm on their skin and their was a light breeze blowing off the water. There were a few families playing frisbee on the sand. Some were already swimming. There weren't a lot of people out yet, but the crowds usually came around lunchtime. It was a perfect day to be at the beach.

Fitz laid his brightly colored towel on the soft sand. He pulled his t-shirt over his head and dropped it. He was officially ready. He laid on his towel and waited for Olivia to do the same.

Olivia took off her sunglasses and set her bag down near her towel. She rummaged through it until she found what she was looking for. She pulled out a bottle of water and a bottle of sunblock. She set them on his towel and removed her tank top, carefully, so her hair wouldn't get messed up. She made sure sand didn't get on her shirt because sand on lotion covered skin is the worst feeling. She put her sunglasses back on her face and turned her phone on vibrate. She shook out her towel once more, seeing sand on it, and laid it down perfectly straight beside his. And then she sat down on her towel and looked over at Fitz.

"I need to start eating granola because you just made me feel ninety years old waiting for you to get settled. Olivia stuck her tongue out at him. "But I really like your bikini, babe. And I'm going to like taking it off of you later on." He watched Olivia lick her lips and make a humming noise.

Fitz grabbed the tanning oil and lathered it generously on his legs, arms, and chest as Olivia did the same with her sunblock. When they were finished, he asked her, "Would you mind rubbing some tanning oil on my back please?"

"Sure, babe." She took the bottle from his hand as he turned over to lay on his stomach. His cheek was on the towel and he was facing her with his eyes were closed.

Olivia turned the bottle sideways and poured some into her hand. She rubbed her hands together and started massaging the oil onto his back. He made happy humming sounds of his own as she worked her magic on his shoulders. He heard her mutter "Hang on a second, babe" and then he felt her boobs rubbing on his back.

His eyes popped wide open and he said, "What exactly are you doing?"

"I dropped the lid to your greasy bottle. I'm looking for it. Hold still!" She huffed.

If you wanted to make a porno, all you had to do was tell me." Fitz started rubbing on her leg, since it was there.

Olivia giggled and slapped his hand away. She screwed the lid onto the bottle and left it in the sand. She got settled on her towel and looked over at him. His eyes seemed bluer. Maybe it was the ocean? Maybe it was the sky? Maybe it was just the fact that she was in love with his handsome perverted self. She reached for his hand, leaned over, and gave him a kiss. "You are very sexy at the beach, Mr. Grant."

"Yea? How sexy?" He asked, fishing for a compliment.

She smiled at him and said, "Mmmmm, if I could share the thoughts I'm having about you right now."

"You can share anything with me," He said eagerly. "Tell me one of your thoughts."

Olivia, who happened to glance up at the sky at that moment said, "I wanna do that!"

Fitz's voice dropped an octave. "You're going to have to be more specific, Miss Pope. I want to hear exactly what you want to do." Fitz was thinking that even though they had only been outside for thirty minutes, it might be time to go inside for some privacy.

Olivia looked back over at Fitz. It was obvious the type of thoughts he was having. Men were always thinking about sex, she mused. She caressed his cheek, batted her eyes, and in her most seductive voice said, "I want to go parasailing."

Fitz had been hanging onto every word she said. And then he realized what she said. That wasn't sexy. "Parasailing?"

"Yes! There's a number listed on the banner on the back of that airplane. Please!" She gave him her best pout. He was powerless to her charms, and Olivia knew it.

"Ok. Let's do it." Fitz had always wanted to try parasailing. He was kind of surprised that she wanted to try it as well. Olivia called the number and made the arrangements with the person on the phone. She relayed the information to him and they gathered their stuff and took it back to the house.

Once they stepped onto the boat, they were introduced to their instructor, Jeremy and his helper, Will. Both men looked to be in their mid twenties and Fitz had a moment of hesitation to be putting their lives in the hands of these two boys. He shrugged it off and took a seat on the boat. Jeremy went through his spiel and explained exactly what would happen. From the swing seat they would sit in to the belts and straps they would wear. He went over the safety precautions with them and told them how they would be lifted into the air and how they would get back on the boat. Olivia and Fitz listened intently and hoped they would be able to remember it all.

"Are the two of you ready?" Jeremy asked. "Let's get you ready to fly." He held his hand out to Olivia and asked her to stand up. He helped her into her life jacket and winked at her as he zipped it up over her breasts. Olivia took it as helpful but Fitz was not impressed. If he kept it up, this kid was going to get his teeth kicked out, once they were back safely on the boat. He watched Jeremy like a hawk.

"Ok, now we have to put the harness on you, Olivia. All you have to do is step your beautiful legs into it and I'll do the rest."

Fitz was about to push Jeremy into the water.

After Jeremy told her how to adjust the seat under her thigh, in great detail, with the hands on approach, he explained what all the straps were for and where they would be while she was suspended in the air. "You're good to go. Let's just get your friend hooked up first" He winked at her again.

Fitz was staring a hole into the back of Jeremy's head and filling it with hate before the kid turned and threw Fitz a life jacket. "Put that on, bro." Jeremy said. He put the harness on Fitz and hooked it up without conversation at all. Once Fitz was safely ready to go, Jeremy took Olivia's hand and led them to the back of the boat. "Once the parachute is in the air I'll clip you on to the line. All you gotta do is sit down and adjust your seat. You got all that, Olivia?"

"I think so," she replied nervously.

"It's a piece of cake." Jeremy said with another wink.

"Piece of ass is more like it," Fitz muttered. Olivia nudged him in the ribs and smiled brightly, effectively silencing him.

The brightly colored parachute was flying in the air a few minutes later and Fitz and Olivia excitedly watched as their legs went from resting on the boat to hovering over the water behind the boat as it sped along. Olivia shrieked excitedly and held Fitz's large hand. He grinned at her, his jealousy forgotten. The ocean was getting further and further away from them as they floated above it. The scenery was beautiful and the feeling of flying was truly exhilarating for both of them.

"Go ahead and say it," Olivia shouted. "This was a fantastic idea."

Fitz kicked his feet back and forth like a little kid, still grinning, and shouted back, "Great idea, bro! Jeremy's death would make it even better."

Olivia laughed at him. "He's just a flirty kid. You were probably the same way when you were his age. Besides, boys don't get my attention. I have a man." She leaned over as far as she could and yelled, "Kiss me!"

Fitz leaned the rest of the way, put his hand on her cheek, and covered her lips with his own. "I adore you." They held hands for the duration of the ride and eventually made their way back onto the boat.

When they stood up, Olivia lost her balance. Jeremy tried to swoop in to help her, but Fitz gave him a glare and he shrunk back to where he had been standing. "That was better than sex!" Olivia exclaimed.

"You'll need to step out of the harness and take off your life jackets." Jeremy instructed on a chuckle.

"Excuse me? I think you've forgotten who you've been having sex with, Miss Pope." He replied. Fitz squatted in front of Olivia. His was face level with her center and the thoughts that were going through his mind were dangerous. He looked up at her and saw that she was thinking similar things from the look on her own face. Without breaking eye contact with Olivia he said to Jeremy, "Talk me through taking this harness off of her. Bro!"

Fitz made the entire process sexier than it should have been. He slowly ran his hands up the length of her legs until he reached her hips. He slipped his hands around to her ass and gave it a light squeeze and pulled her a little closer. Her breath hitched and he did exactly what the jackass told him to do. He unbuckled the strap and pulled it free. While holding onto the harness, he ran his hand down to Olivia's right ankle and said, "Go ahead and take those beautiful legs out of this thing." When both legs were out of the harness, he let it fall with a clank to the boat floor.

Jeremy thought about helping Olivia with her life jacket, but he was rooted to the spot watching this master stud make taking the items off look like a sex act. Fitz winked at her, bringing a chuckle from Olivia. With his eyes on her, Fitz unzipped it very slowly. He could see her breathing become quickened and was pleased by it. When it was undone, Olivia shrugged out of it and Fitz threw the life jacket over his head towards Jeremy and kept his eyes on Olivia.

He took off his own harness and life jacket and then pulled Olivia flush with his body. Her arms went around his neck and her hands played with the curls on his nape she loved so well. He planned on a lazy yet sexy kiss, but Olivia pulled his head to hers and crushed her mouth onto his hungrily. Their tongues instantly met and happily danced with each other as their owners groped each other without shame.

Olivia pulled away from Fitz and in a breathless voice said, "I was wrong. Sex is better. Wayyy better. Take me back to the house and remind me. Now!"

They rushed towards the few steps on the side of the boat and Fitz couldn't help himself. He looked over his shoulder, winked at Jeremy and yelled, "Later bro."


	25. Reminded

**Y'all asked for it...**

Reminded

"They caught a taxi back to the house just so they could make out in the back seat. It had started to sprinkle outside but they didn't care at the moment. Olivia was sitting across Fitz's lap and the back seat was a blur of arms, hands, lips, and whispered promises. They couldn't get enough of each other and mentally willed the car to go faster.

The driver was going as fast as he could. He felt like he was sitting on a closed set of a porno in action. He was enjoying the glimpses he got, but still. He felt like he shouldn't be watching their open display and was trying to get them to their destination as quickly and safely as possible. She was a pretty girl though and filled out her bikini very well. He swerved to avoid going off the road and decided to stop looking at the goings on behind him and focus on driving. Tourists!

Fitz had a handful of Olivia's ass in one hand and one of her breasts in the other. He couldn't keep his mouth off of her skin. He had effectively covered her lips, neck, and arms with kisses. It wasn't enough. This damn taxi driver was taking his time getting them home on purpose. Just to get more money. Asshole! He focused his mind on the task at hand. Speaking of hands, he loved where his currently were. He just wished the blue material wasn't in the way. Just a few more minutes, he told himself. He latched onto Olivia's mouth and kissed her with great ferocity as she tore her lips from his to breathe, and moaned.

Olivia wished there was a partition between them and the driver. The ache between her legs was severe and she wanted Fitz in the worst way. His large skilled hands were busily kneading her skin but she wanted them to be busy elsewhere. This frigging driver was driving like he had a newborn baby in the car instead of the HBO channel. They needed to get back to the beach house so they could attack each other with lots of room. She whispered what she wanted him to do to her and heard Fitz growl in reply. He pulled her to straddling him and roughly yanked one side of her bikini top to the side and attached his mouth to her nipple. Olivia bit his salty shoulder to keep from screaming.

The taxi pulled to a stop in front of the little beach house but the passengers had no clue the car was no longer in motion. He sat there for thirty excruciating seconds listening to heavy breathing and...was that a sucking sound? He didn't want to know! He refused to look into the rearview mirror. He cleared his throat loudly, and cheerfully said, "We have arrived at your destination."

Olivia grabbed Fitz's t-shirt right off his body and slipped it over her head. She was pretty sure, in her hazy state of mind, that her bikini top wasn't covering anything of importance anymore. And she didn't want the taxi driver getting any more of a view than he already had gotten. She tried to get off of his lap, but Fitz held her in place and threw a one hundred dollar bill over the seat. Fitz used the handle of the door and pushed it open. He stepped out into the now pounding rain with Olivia's legs wrapped around his body. He attacked her mouth with reckless abandon, pushing his tongue deep into her mouth and walked them towards the front door.

"The front door is locked!" Fitz said angrily. Olivia was trying to unlock it but had dropped the keys when Fitz started sucking on her neck. "Fuck it! We're doing this right here. Right now!" He pushed her up against the side of the house and continued licking and sucking her neck, bringing moans of delirious satisfaction from Olivia.

"Fitz! Stop!" She exclaimed.

He tore his mouth from her neck and growled out "No!" He peeled the soaking wet t-shirt off her body followed by the bikini top.

"Fitz! We are outside where anyone can see us! Let me unlock the..."

But she was interrupted by his hooded lust filled blue eyes. Fitz set her down on the ground and said, "You said we could do whatever I want. However I want to do it. THIS is how I want to do it. Besides, there isn't anyone at the beach right now. It's pouring." He waited for her reply.

Instead, with her eyes on his, Olivia slid her bikini bottoms down her legs and stepped out of them as Fitz licked his lips. "Whatever the birthday man wants."

He had her back in his arms in an instant. Her legs went back around his waist and she gripped his back as he pulled his swim trunks off. Olivia felt the cool side of the house up against her back and leaned into it. Fitz lined himself up to her entrance and pushed himself all the way in with one thrust. Olivia arched her back off the side of the house, moaned his name, and raked her fingernails up his back. He grabbed her wrists in one hand and pulled them up over her head, holding them there. His mouth found hers and he traced her lips with his tongue before sliding it into her mouth.

Olivia was panting and chanted "don't stop, please don't stop" as Fitz thrust into her over and over. She could feel her climax building but tried to hold it back. He felt so good inside of her and she wanted it to last forever. The rain pounding on their heated skin just made the experience feel sexier. Being outside added to it as well.

Fitz could tell she was trying to hold back. He released her hands, wrapped one of his around her back, and dipped the other one to her center. He started rubbing vigorously on her most sensitive spot while his hips continued to pump repetitiously into hers and she cursed at him and panted harder. He watched her face contort, still trying to fight the impending explosion. "Let go, babe." When she shook her head back and forth with her eyes shut tight he increased the pressure his finger was providing. "The birthday man says let go! Now!"

Olivia exploded on a loud scream. Her head dropped to his shoulder and her arms limply held onto his back. Fitz chuckled at her and recalled the words she said to him the very first time they had sex. "Is that all you've got, Miss Pope? You really don't know my fantasies very well, do you? We'll work on that."

"Ha Ha." She said humorlessly. He grabbed the keys from the ground and picked Olivia up in a fireman's carry. "Fitz!" She hissed. "My ass is up in the air! Put me down."

He smacked her ass once, unlocked the door to the house, and walked inside. Locking it behind them. "Your ass is going to stay in the air for the next few hours so get used to the idea. I'm not done with you yet."

"I need to pee." She blushed. "And I have something for you."

"Hurry up, woman. I'm not going anywhere." He walked to the refrigerator to grab a bottle of water to drink while he waited for her. Olivia grabbed the item from her bag and darted into the bathroom.

She used the facilities and jumped into the shower to rinse off the ocean water. In record time she was out and drying her skin off with a towel. She put on the ridiculous flexible outfit. It was a two piece strawberry smelling thing that had a bikini type top and an almost invisible skirt. It had jagged ripped looking edges, but it was actually comfortable. He'd better be glad she loved him. She looked at herself in the mirror and grinned. She felt like an idiot but he was gonna love it.

Fitz had jumped into the shower in the smaller bathroom. He felt invigorated. It was going to be a long night and as requested, he was going to remind her that sex was better than parasailing. Or anything else she could think of. His goal was for her to not be able to think at all. He was up for the challenge. He beat her out of the shower. Big surprise there. He briefly wondered what she had for him. He'd enjoy it for a minute and then they would get back down to business. He crawled under the sheet and leaned up against the headboard wearing nothing but a smile.

Olivia walked into the bedroom and saw that Fitz was waiting for her. When he saw what she had on he pointed his finger at her and started laughing. "What is THAT?"

She immediately felt like an idiot, and thought this one was a mistake. "What's wrong with it?" She said looking down at her body.

"You look like Tarzan. Come here and let me touch it." He coaxed with a grin.

"You're definitely not touching it! I'll have you know this edible...thing cost m.."

"Shhhhh! Did you just say edible? As in I can eat that off your body? Kinda like cracker jacks. You eat the popcorn to get to the prize?"

"It's edible. I told you before we left the house that I got something like this. But you didn't believe..."

"Right." He said dismissively. "Come here and let me look at it. I like to see what I'm eating before I put it in my mouth."

"No way! You just called me Tarzan! I'm going to throw it away." Olivia turned around with a smirk and started counting to three in her head. She heard him jump off the bed and then felt his large hands grab her from behind when she got to two.

He scooped her up and threw her over his shoulder as she giggled. Fitz slapped her ass once and set her on the floor beside the bed as he sat on the edge of it. "Woman, when I ask you to show me something you should show it to me. Now let me see what we're working with."

Olivia put her hands across her barely covered breasts. "No. You hurt my feelings. I put this stupid thing on just for you and you made fun of me." She was teasing him and they both knew it.

Fitz opened his arms and grinned at her, "Who needs a hug? I'm sorry for hurting your feelings, babe." Olivia walked into her arms and felt Fitz nibble on her shoulder. "Mmmm strawberry. Isn't this just a glorified fruit roll up?" They both dissolved into laughter and he pulled her beside him on the bed. "Am I forgiven? And can I have a taste now?"

"You're forgiveness depends on your next move. Let's see what you got." She said with raised eyebrows.

Fitz propped himself up on his bent arm and looked down at her. He played with a piece of her hair between his fingers and apologized. "I'm really sorry for saying you look like Tarzan when you were obviously trying to make my birthday celebration special. I appreciate your creativity." He leaned down and grazed his lips across hers in the softest kiss she had ever felt. "This is the best birthday I've ever had and it's all because of you. I love you so much."

Olivia wrapped her arms around his neck and said, "That's a really good move. You're forgiven. And I love you too." At his grin, she pulled him down for more soft kisses. She sighed when he left her mouth and began nibbling and kissing on her neck. He chewed on her top until he had a clear path down between the valley of her breasts. Fitz settled himself between her legs and put the edge of the top in his mouth and peeled it over to the left, revealing her breast. He repeated the process on the right side so they were both exposed.

Fitz took his time licking and sucking on the skin just under Olivia's breasts. His tongue made a slow lazy trail between them. Olivia was squirming under his body and tried, unsuccessfully, to push one of them into his mouth. He was on his own time table and wasn't in a big rush. He dipped his head every time she tried. Finally he got to the point of things when he licked a circle around one of her nipples. Still she tried to get her way, but he wasn't having it. "You know, the more you try to shove one of them in my mouth, the slower I'm going to go." He grinned when he heard her huff loudly.

He sucked hard on the skin just beside her nipple, leaving a dark red mark. When Olivia closed her eyes and let her body go completely limp in frustration, that was when Fitz latched onto her nipple like a starving newborn. She almost came off the bed, but he held her in place as he continued sucking and licking and flicking his tongue across the pebbled nipple. Her legs wrapped around his back and she started grinding her core on him. Anything to ease the throbbing she was feeling between her legs.

He released the nipple and went back to making a slow trail across her chest to the other one. Olivia was primed for him to give it the same treatment. But instead Fitz licked a trail everywhere but her nipple. She was so frustrated and let out a groan letting him know it. "However I want to do it." He reminded her.

Olivia was never going to utter those stupid idiotic words to him ever again! He was torturing her on purpose. It was a good things birthdays only came around once a year. Next year she was taking him out to dinner instead! She just wanted the throbbing to stop. But he didn't seem too interested in what she wanted. He was on a mission to annoy the hell out of her. Maybe he'd be done soon?

Fitz could see the gears working in her head as her face gave away her anger and frustration. Poor Tarzan, he thought. It's hard work to lay there doing nothing and getting pleasured in return. This was going to be the slowest session they had ever had. He just had to keep his own body in check long enough to accomplish it. Her wiggling and whining weren't helping matters. Luckily, he had her words of "however you want to do it" and that gave him free reign on her body. He bet she was hating herself for ever saying them in the first place. Too late now.

He slowly slid down her body until his face was resting above her core. He put his hands under her butt and dipped his tongue into her belly button. He felt her stomach muscles twitch in response. Fitz loved the way her body responded to him and he wanted to learn more. His tongue swerved to the left and made a path to her hip bone where he made a tiny circle. She giggled out loud and almost hit him in the face with her knee when she quickly brought it up in defense. Fitz logged away the fact that her hip bone was a ticklish spot for her and pushed her legs back down on the bed.

He wasted no time in biting the side of the skirt and uncovering her center. He inhaled deeply and hummed on the exhale. Olivia was back to writhing under him, knowing he wouldn't waste time in that particular spot. But instead, Fitz planted kisses down her inner thigh all the way down to her toes, and then made his way back up to where he started. "Fitz, please!" Olivia begged in a whiney voice.

Fitz picked up his head and gave her a look full of concern. "I hope you aren't getting sick again. You're awfully whiney. Maybe I should call your mother?"

"And maybe you should just get busy doing what you do best?" She retorted.

"Awww, babe. You really think that I'm the best at it? Thank you." He scrambled up her body and pecked her unresponsive pouty lips. She turned her head toward the wall, so Fitz put his index finger under her chin and directed her eyes back to him. "If you aren't enjoying the slower pace, I suggest that you recall the words you..."

"Yea yea," she said. "Believe me. I have learned my lesson and will choose my words more carefully from now on. Proceed."

"I'll be back up here shortly. Don't get lonely all by yourself." Fitz winked at her and slid back down to where he was. Olivia rolled her eyes. He picked up her right leg and kissed her inner thigh, moving up toward her center. He flattened his tongue and dragged it up her slit. Olivia bucked wildly and moaned his name. Still his mouth took it's time, enjoying the noises she made.

Finally! Olivia was no longer frustrated. She was on her way to release, thoroughly enjoying the sluggish pace Fitz was using to accomplish it. She couldn't keep quiet. She was moaning, pulling his hair out by the roots, and encouraging him along. Just as she was about to hit her peak, Fitz's mouth stopped. He slithered up her body and gave her a smile.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" She practically screamed. "I was almost there!"

"I know you were almost there, but I wanted to join you." He slipped inside her velvety wetness and sighed with her. "That is so much better. Don't you think?"

"Yessssssssss!" She cried. She once again wrapped her legs around him clung to his back like a lifeline. Fitz moved in and out of her with slow precise strokes. Olivia moved her hips to match his unhurried movements and the feeling was incredible. This was so intimate. Sex is usually intimate. But this. This was more like the connecting of their souls. Olivia wondered why they ever had rushed sex? Oooh, but fast and rough had it's place too. She was missing out on the intimacy with the thoughts that were going through her head. She told her mind to shut the hell up.

"Are you still mad at me?" He teased as he pulled out of her slowly.

"I will never forgive you if you stop this time." She arched her back and her face contorted as he pushed his long length back into her.

Fitz loved to watch her face during sex. It was truly riveting to him. She had her completely peaceful look, the scrunched up like she was in pain look, or happy, smiling, and completely satisfied. Right now she was somewhere in between the first and second. He was building her up slowly. Prolonging it, if he could. "I'm pretty happy where I am right now." He chuckled. He pushed a stray wet strand of hair out of her face, pulled back out of her, and said, "I love you so much, Olivia. You make me happier than I've ever been before."

Olivia put her fingers into his curls and pulled him down for a sweet kiss. This time her tongue delved unhurriedly into his mouth. He groaned and caressed her cheek. As the kiss grew more heated and passionate, Fitz's body picked up the pace. When he put his head into her neck to catch his breath, he could tell that she was on the brink of climaxing. He swiveled his hips a few times and picked up his face from her neck to watch her as she unraveled. She clawed his back and screamed his name as her body convulsed repeatedly.

Fitz kept moving in and out of her as her body started building back up to exploding again. Her quickened the pace a little more and continued to hit the right spot inside her body. She came much faster the second time and still he pumped in and out of her. Olivia was back to chanting 'don't stop' over and over as the only sounds in the house were their fast breathing and the sounds they brought out of each other.

"Just a little more, babe. Please!" She panted out.

Fitz, who lived to please her, especially in these moments, was ready for his own release. He got up on his shins, scooted closer to her, and brought one of her legs up on his shoulder. He wondered at how he had held back this long. Increasing his speed a lot more, he started thrashing into her with great speed. He was sweating and grunting but his movements never slowed down.

Olivia gripped the sheets and held on as if her life depended on it. She saw his face. His eyes were closed and he wore a look of great determination. He was close. She pulled her leg off of his shoulder and pulled him down closer to herself and bit his nipple.

Fitz looked up to the ceiling and screamed loudly. And for a long time as she felt him expand and contract inside of her body. Maybe she shouldn't have done that? Maybe he was pissed off at her and it hurt? In the midst of those thoughts and wonderings, he landed on her like a giant felled tree.

Her eyes popped wide open as his body easily covered hers. He was breathing heavy, like he had just run a marathon. She was afraid to move. When he got his breath almost under control he muttered "sorry", wrapped his arms around her, and rolled them so she was lying on top of his chest.

Olivia pushed his stray curl off of his forehead and kissed his cheek. "Are you ok?"

"What the hell was that?" He asked. "What made you bite me?"

"Are you mad? I'm sorry if you're mad. Or if I hurt you. I won't do it..." She began.

Fitz cut her off by putting his finger to her lips. "That was amazing. I am definitely NOT mad. That pushed me over the edge and into the abyss." He lifted his head and pecked her lips.

"Yea? We need to slow it down sometimes. I was so antsy to hit my peak that I almost ruined the whole thing. Great call on the slow sex. I've never felt closer to you." She admitted.

"Yea? I felt the same way. I was sort of teasing you in the beginning, but you know me. I had a plan."

Olivia rolled off of him and made a face. "You really can't afford for your ego to get any bigger. And neither can I."

"I love you so much, Olivia." He pulled the sheet up over them and tucked her into his side.

"I love you too, Fitzgerald." She said on a yawn.

"We've been over this. Please don't call me Fitzgerald while we're naked. It reminds me of my mother." Olivia felt her eyelids closing, the day's festivities catching up to her.

"Fitz." She said in a voice thick with sleep. Fitz looked at her serene face and yawned himself. They could take a short nap and then get ready for dinner. He just kicked parasailing in the ass with the 'which is better' question. Besides, they were on beach time.


	26. fUn WiTh LeTtErS

Sunday morning was a beautiful one on the beach. The sun was out in full effect heating up everything it touched. Olivia and Fitz wanted to make this last day count and enjoy it to the fullest, before they had to go back to reality. They didn't have a lot planned but she had already told Fitz she wanted to stop and buy the girls a souvenir before they headed home. Fitz figured shopping would eventually make an appearance on the trip so he didn't mind. Besides, Olivia had made his birthday weekend a memorable one.

They were sitting side by side on the terrace drinking lemonade, having just finished their lunch. "I'm really gonna miss this place." Olivia stretched lazily and smiled at Fitz. "It has been such a relaxing weekend. I hope we can come back again sometime?"

Fitz put his arm around her and she leaned her head onto his shoulder. "I think that can be arranged. If Tarzan can come back with us." He heard her chuckle at him and he soaked up the moment.

He heard his cell phone ringing from the kitchen but Fitz had no interest in talking to anyone so he let it go to voice mail. He heard the chime a few moments later indicating he indeed had a voice mail and put it out of his mind. "What time do you want to leave to go shopping? It's easier to pack the car and hit up the stores on our way out of town. Is that ok with you?"

"That's a good idea. I can be ready to go in an hour or so. I've got some prep to do for work when we get home later. My parents are expecting us at their house next Sunday for dinner. I hope you're ready for that?" She looked up at his handsome tanned face.

"Your mother adores me. Why wouldn't I be ready for that?" Fitz stated arrogantly.

"Oh boy..."

Fitz's phone started ringing again. He glanced toward the kitchen as Olivia picked up their glasses and took them inside, leaving him on the terrace. "It's Charlie." She yelled out to him. He still had no intention of talking to anyone and didn't move.

A moment later he heard Olivia's voice in a much quieter voice. Who was she talking to? He got up and walked into the kitchen to see her on his phone. She was laughing at whoever was on the line. "You are so crazy!...She would love it...You should stop being a baby and take her..."

"Who is that?" Fitz whispered.

Olivia laughed again. "You're are a giant chicken! It's not even scary. It's so much fun. It's over really fast but while you're up there, it's just beautiful."

She pulled the phone away from her ear and whispered back "It's Charlie."

"What are you talking to him about?" Olivia laughed again. Fitz rolled his eyes. He gave her a questioning look and waited for another round of her laughter to cease.

"Parasailing. Charlie is too scared of heights to take Quinn." She said with a grin.

"Yea, because when he was a kid he fell off the roof of his house while he was helping his old man put new shingles on it."

Olivia gasped into the phone. "Charlie! I am so sorry for pushing you. I understand completely why you don't want to do it. Maybe it's not for you? I've got to go. Bye." She handed Fitz his phone and put both of her hands over her mouth.

"Charlie! How's it hanging?" Fitz sang into the phone. "What? Oh. I told her you fell from the roof of your house as a kid and she totally bought that. Gave up the phone real fast so mission accomplished."

"Fitzgerald Grant! He didn't really fall off the roof as a little boy? You were lying to get me off the phone with your friend? You jerk!" She slapped his arm and folded her arms across her chest waiting for an explanation.

"Hang on, Man." Fitz pulled the phone away from his ear. "Hell yes he fell from the roof. He was trying to land on the trampoline in his yard. But he wasn't a little boy. He was fourteen. And I pushed him off. I never said that he was little. You assumed it. That's on you." He moved quickly when she tried to hit his arm again.

"I'm going to take a shower and pack my bag to go home. You two should be ashamed of yourselves." She turned around and disappeared into the bedroom.

Fitz and Charlie enjoyed a laugh over the memory. And the trip to the emergency room that followed, where they hit on the nurse with the perfect boobs and blonde hair. Fitz heard the shower running and remembered that he was probably in the dog house right now. "What the hell do you want, man? I'm at the beach with my woman and you are screwing up happy time."

"You two were having sex and stopped to answer the phone? Fitzy, we need to talk about your skills if that is happening." Charlie said sympathetically.

"Not that kind of happy time. You ass. What do you want?" Fitz said exasperatedly.

"Look, me and Quinn need to move. Our place isn't big enough to hold all of her guns and shit." Charlie joked. Fitz laughed at his friend. "We need a bigger place. We are thinking, early stages, about maybe having a kid. And this one room loft ain't gonna work."

"Wow! Congratulations, man. I had no idea that was a thought in your mind. That's great. Is Quinn mentally prepared to protect both you and a baby? Or is she keeping you around as a human shield?" Fitz joked.

"Fuck you. Do you know of anyone who is selling? We're looking for something with two bedrooms. The missus says there's no way in hell she's squeezing out more than one. And that's fine by me."

A thought hit Fitz. This must be fate. He needed more information though. "Are you looking to buy a house or rent one?"

"Who the hell rents a house these days? It's throwing your money down the drain. I know! We've been renting the loft since we got married. We are looking to buy our first house. We don't want anything huge. Or in a crappy neighborhood. Something reasonably priced. Do you know of anything?"

Fitz grinned. "I actually do know a guy. He has a two bedroom house that he might be selling fairly soon."

"Look, I don't want some fixer upper. That means that Roberto would be coming over and laying his ass on my couch all day watching soap operas and calling it work. Besides that, I don't want a shit hole I have to do a ton of work on. It ain't worth it in my book. Sweat equity my ass." He muttered.

"It's nothing like that. You'll love it. I promise. Give me a few days to get more information and I'll get back to you, ok? I just have a few things to work out first." Fitz was excited to hopefully kill two birds with one stone. "I'll call you by Wednesday. Alright?"

"Wednesday works for me. Go make up with your woman. Don't be such an asshole, man. Women hate that." Charlie hung up the phone, leaving Fitz to stare at it.

Go make up with your woman.

Don't be such an asshole.

Fitz grinned evilly, threw the phone on the counter, and darted off for the bathroom. He stripped out of his clothes on the way and quietly opened the shower curtain. Olivia was rinsing soap off of her body as Fitz stepped in behind her. He was about to put his hands around her when she said, "You don't want to touch me right now."

"I'm pretty sure that I do though." He said. He put his hands on her hips and turned her around to face him. "I'm sorry I was an asshole. Charlie brings it out of me. If you think about it, it's really his fault."

Olivia said nothing and waited for more of an explanation than that.

"Ok, so maybe it's not all Charlie's fault. I turn back into a fourteen year old whenever I'm around him. I didn't mean to be such a jerk. I'm sorry."

He was awfully cute when he was apologizing. He was cute all the damn time and that was part of the problem. Olivia put her arms around his neck.

"He really did fall off the roof. Had to get nine stitches in his head." Fitz tried. "Can we please consider this our first fight?"

"This wasn't really a fight. This was you being..."

"I don't think you're picking up what I'm putting down, Miss Pope. If we just had our first fight and we've got it worked out now. Well, the next step is make up sex." He grinned at her.

"Can I act like I'm still really mad at you?" She grinned at him, jumped into his arms, and wrapped her wet legs around his waist.

"Oh I'm gonna insist that you do." He grinned back and carried her to the bed they had shared all weekend.

They drove around the little beach town after they had packed the car and locked up the house. There were a few stores that boasted close out sales and marked down this and that. They walked into several of them in search of a New York beach souvenir. Fitz thought it was crazy, but didn't pretend to understand the thinking of a woman.

"What about this for Abby?" Fitz yelled to Olivia from across the store with a laugh. He held up a t-shirt that said 'Stalker alert'.

Olivia rolled her eyes but chuckled at it. "We're not getting that for Abby."

Fitz found a clothing rack and yelled back, "You buy your souvenirs and I'll buy mine. Ok?"

"You are not buying that t-shirt for Abby, Fitzgerald." Olivia yelled back absentmindedly. "She would kill you. And then she wouldn't have anyone to stalk anymore."

She felt his large warm hands wrap around her waist as he leaned in to put a kiss on her neck. "Stop shouting. It's not nice." Olivia tried to swat at him but he evaded it. "You pick out your stuff and I'll pick out mine. Now let me shop in peace without trying to grope me in public." He slapped her ass on a laugh. He loved that she was wearing the very same sundress she had worn the day she met him. The memory made him smile.

Fitz found what he was looking for at that store. He bought Abby a Super Girl cape with sequins on it. He bought Yvonne a coffee mug that said 'Worlds Best Assistant' on it. He was feeling pretty smug with himself. And then he realized he needed to get the mothers something. There was no way he was showing up to Olivia's parents house without something for her mom. And he couldn't buy her mom something without buying his own mother something. Damn shopping!

Forty-five minutes later, they were back in the car. Fitz had paid his things before Olivia was done and he took them outside and put them in the trunk of the car. Away from the eyes of a certain nosey woman. He was pretty pleased with himself and the items he had picked out.

Olivia came out to the car fifteen minutes later with a smile on her face. She too, was pleased with the things she had bought for her friends. "Wanna see what I bought?" She cheerfully asked Fitz.

"Do I have a choice?" He cheerfully asked back.

"Not really." She said as she pulled items out of her bag. Abby got a beautiful silver cuff bracelet that had sand from the beach on it. She had chosen a leather necklace with a sterling silver oval at the end of it with a turtle stamped on it. She knew Yvonne collected turtles and this would be a nice addition. "What did you buy?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" He grinned at her.

"I would. It's why I asked. Smartass." Olivia waited for him to tell or show her what he had purchased but he didn't move. "Really? You're not going to tell me anything?"

Fitz leaned over to her seat and pecked her lips. "Really. Buckle up so we can go home."

"That is so rude!" She pouted with her arms folded across her chest. She looked at him from her peripheral vision to see if he was going to break down.

"What's rude is how you play with the radio. I bought you a couple of chick magazines to read on the way home. Feel free to read them cover to cover. And don't even think about touching the radio." Fitz laughed when her pout turned more severe.

After being on the road for over an hour, Olivia was tired of the magazines Fitz had bought her. It was too damn quiet in the car with no radio to sing along to, but she was determined not to turn it on. Her fingers were itching to so she sat on them. She thought she heard Fitz chuckle. He better have thought of a funny joke just then...

"Babe, I'm bored. I'm not gonna last another forty minutes in this car without losing my mind. Let's play a road game!" She said excitedly.

"What kind of road game would you like to play?" It had been a blissfully quiet drive, so he indulged her.

"When I was a kid and would go on long trips with my parents, we would play a game where you have to find the alphabet in order on license plates. You wanna play with me?" She felt like a ten year old.

"Are you asking me to play a game? Or are you asking me for sex? Because I can pull the car over at any point." He gave her a wolfish smile and got smacked on the arm for it. "Ok, I'll play. And I'll kick your ass at it too."

"You wish! I won every single time with my parents." She said defiantly.

"You don't think they let you win because you are their baby girl and they would do anything to make you happy because you are perfect in every way, do you?" He put his finger on his chin and acted like he was pondering that possibility.

"No way! My dad is way too competitive. Even with me. And my mom hates stuff like that. No." She believed her own statement, but Fitz didn't.

"There's A! Hahahaha!" She pointed at a nearby car with an A in the tag and searched the other cars carefully. "Come to Mama you beautiful B. Oh I see a B too!" Liv chimed with glee in her voice. "Ohmygod and there's a C right beside it on the same license plate. Who is gonna kick whose ass at this game, Grant? That's what I thought! Booyah!"

Fitz never should have taken the radio from her. This was much more annoying. And then a thought came to him and he grinned really hard. Looking at the plates in front of him, with an agenda on his mind, and knowing it would piss her off, Fitz said, "There's an M! Whoohoo"

Olivia looked over at him. "We aren't on M yet, Fitz. We are on D."

"I wish you were on my D right now." He smirked at her as she rolled her eyes and chuckled.

"Oooooh there it is. The letter D. I told you I was good at this game. But did you believe me? Noooooo."

Fitz tuned her out and looked some more, being mindful of the road. "There's an O! YESSSSS!"

Olivia shot him a look. "Play right or don't play at all. Sore ass loser."

"'Play right or don't play at all'" Fitz mimicked her. "There it is! A beautiful V."

"You don't get that excited over my beautiful V." she pouted. "And stop finding letters out of order you cheater."

"Would you like for me to pull the car over and show you how excited I can get over your beautiful V? Cause I will." Another smack to the arm followed by ignoring him. "Do you see that red Chevy truck? It's got an E on the plate. You are falling behind, Miss Pope."

"At least you are following the rules now." She said as she looked out the passenger window for more letters.

"F and G are side by side right there! Thank you to the man driving the cute Toyota. Ha!" She did a happy dance in her seat.

A few minutes later the silence was broken when Fitz said, "There's an I!" Followed by a fist pump in the air.

"Fitz, we aren't on I yet. We haven't found H. Are you feeling ok? Did you fail pre school where the letters were taught to us?" She cackled at her own humor and then stopped abruptly when she screamed "There it is! There's the H."

"And there is what I've been looking for. An N! Oh yeaaaa!" He pointed his index fingers and thumbs at her like they were guns. Then he flexed his thumbs. "Game over. I win! Good try, Miss Pope. Maybe next time."

Olivia was looking at him like he had two heads sitting on his shoulders. "What the hell are you talking about? The game isn't over. The last letter in the alphabet isn't N. You can't just pick and choose which letters you want to find in whatever order you want to find..."

"Which letters did I find?" He calmly interrupted her as he pulled onto the exit ramp.

"How the hell should I know? We called out a lot of letters. What difference does it make? They weren't the right..."

"I found those letters on purpose." Once again, Fitz interrupted her rant and prayed for patience. He pulled up to a red light. "I spelled something with them. Which letters did I find?"

Olivia's face scrunched up as she tried to recall which letters he had annoyed her with calling out. "You found M, O, V, which was dumb..."

"Just the letters please. Save your commentary for later." He said blandly.

"E, I, and N. What the hell does that spell?" She asked.

Fitz smiled at her, watching her brain working it out. Recognition bloomed across her face as her eyes popped wide in surprise. "Move in? What are you saying?" She had to hear it from him.

"I'm saying I'd like for us to move in with each other. What do you think?" He asked cautiously.

All of the people in the surrounding cars turned their heads at the blood curdling happy scream that emitted from Olivia at that moment. "Is that a yes? Please say that it is."

Olivia took off her seatbelt and flung herself onto his shoulders and hugging him tightly as the tears fell from her eyes. She nodded her head repeatedly, not able to speak just yet. Fitz held her close and grinned. This woman was everything to him and he loved her more than anything. He pulled her back and saw her wet cheeks. He wiped the tears away with his thumb and said, "I know that sharing half of your closet space is scary, but there's no need to cry." She chuckled like he wanted her to. "I love you, Olivia. And I want to be with you every day. I mean, I pretty much already am. I just want to make it official."

"Yes. Let's move in together!" She kissed him passionately right there in the front seat, with the glow from the green light on their faces as every car piled up behind them honked their horns in anger. "I love you too, Fitz. This is a major step. Once we take it, there's no going back. No running away. It's going to be really hard some days. And it's going to be an adjustment trying to figure out how to live with someone constantly in your space. I'm willing to do all of that. Are you?"

"You're worried about me? I took care of you while you were sick with a high fever. I invited you to meet my friends..."

"Here we go. It's already starting." She said as she climbed back over into her own seat.

Fitz smacked her on the ass and then held her hand once she was in her seat and had her seat belt back on. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it. "We'll figure it out together." He continued driving, much to the pleasure of the others on the road behind them. "And I know we'll have good days and bad days. But I agree with you. No running away. We deal with things together. Always."

"Always," Olivia repeated the sentiment. She couldn't wait to tell the girls the news. And her parents. And his parents. Did this call for celebratory sex she wondered? She was ecstatic. They were taking their relationship to the next level. It felt perfectly right. "Can I play with the radio now?" Fitz howled with laughter and she took that as a yes.

As soon as the car was put into park in front of Olivia's house a half hour later, Fitz and Olivia hurriedly took off their seat belts and raced to the front of the car. They collided with each other in front of the hood and she jumped into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist. Fitz held onto her tightly as their lips connected just as quickly. The kisses were passionate and fast, just as their history together so far had been.

Olivia pulled away from his lips but settled her head into his tanned neck. "I can't believe we are going to move in together! I'm so happy. You make me so happy. And I know there will be days when I'm going to get on your last good nerve. I'm whiney. And sometimes I'm needy. But I love you with my whole heart. And I promise to do everything I can to make you happy. This is your very last chance to change your mind, if you aren't sure."

Fitz was holding her up with one hand. The woman weighed ninety pounds so it wasn't a hard feat. His other hand was playing with her hair. "No running away. Ever. As long as you don't get sick very often, it'll be fine." He felt her tug on his curls. "I love you more than I ever thought I could love another person. You are everything to me and I never want that to change. This is a big step, but so far, we've faced a few big ones and came out just fine. With you beside me, this is going to be a piece of cake."

She rubbed her nose against his and with a big smile on her face she mimicked his voice from the previous day and said, "Piece of ass is more like it."


	27. The Announcement

The Announcement

Monday morning was a typical one for Olivia. She had gotten all of her prep work done the night before, once Fitz finally fell asleep after a round of slow and steamy celebratory sex. When she heard him snoring, she knew it was safe to get up and do some work for a few hours on the couch. She had kept herself busy until almost quitting time at work that day. And that was when Abby and Yvonne came into her office with huge smiles on their faces.

"Hello, ladies. What brings you by on a busy Monday afternoon?" Olivia chirped.

"Oh nothing. We finally got stuff done for the day and thought we could round it off with a little story time about your beach weekend with Fitz." Yvonne chirped back with a huge smile.

"Stuff meaning work?" Olivia asked sarcastically.

"The work stuff is done. Now tell us about the weekend!" Abby demanded. "How much sex can two people have at the beach? I need to know. For research purposes." When Olivia gave her a questioning look Abby added, "In case I want to honeymoon at the beach."

Olivia chuckled at her friend. "A lot" was all she said.

Yvonne and Abby glanced at each other and wordlessly decided they were going to have to drag information out of her. "What did you do besides have sex everywhere?"

That got Olivia's attention and was easier to open up about. "We went parasailing. You guys have got to try it. It is SO much fun! And beautiful. And a natural aphrodisiac." There it was. Olivia had accidentally cracked open the door to their actual inquiries.

"Aphrodisiac, huh?" Abby asked with a grin. "Please elaborate."

"And don't leave anything out." Yvonne said as she scooted closer to the edge of her seat.

"I hate you both." Olivia stated. "FINE! I saw one of those planes that fly over the water with a banner on the back of it with information about parasailing on it. I mentioned to Fitz that I wanted to try it, so we did."

"How does that lead to sex though? And again, don't leave anything out." Yvonne stated.

"Well, the kid who was in charge on the boat was very flirty with me. And very hands on, if you know what I mean. It kinda pissed Fitz off, but he didn't say anything directly to him."

"I would have paid money to see that!" Abby said.

"Anyways, up in the air it was just gorgeous. Beautiful scenery on a clear warm day. I had great company too so that helped. But when we got back on the boat, Mr. Touchy Feely went to help me out of the straps and Fitz basically made the kid tell him what to do and he did it himself as this poor kid watched with an open mouth. Somehow, Fitz made it feel very sexual. I can't really explain it." Olivia went quiet for a few moments recalling exactly what Fitz had done and how. A smile came across her face at the memory.

Yvonne had traveled on a little daydream of her own and whispered, "That makes sense. He looks like sex on a stick." She came out of it to see Abby and Olivia staring at her with raised eyebrows. "Sorry. You were saying?"

"Yeaaaa, so I made the mistake of telling Fitz that parasailing was better than sex." Olivia chuckled.

"You did NOT!" Abby and Yvonne said in outrage together.

"To his face?" Abby's mind traveled in time and then it hit her. "He screwed you senseless didn't he? Ohmygod, he did! Tell us about that!"

"I'm not telling you about that! It's personal. But he soooooo did!" The three women clapped and chuckled like little girls.

"Is Fitz alright?" Yvonne asked in a serious tone.

"He's fine. Why wouldn't Fitz be alright?" Olivia asked.

"I don't want you to break him with all the sex!" Yvonne shot back.

"Believe me, Yvonne, the man has stamina for days. He's absolutely fine." Olivia opened a desk drawer and brought out two gift bags. "I got the two of you a little something before we came home."

Abby took the cute little green bag and pulled the thin pretty tissue out, throwing it on Olivia's floor. She pulled out the bracelet with an, "Oooooh, Liv! It's beautiful. I love it! Thank you so much."

Yvonne waited the obligatory fifteen seconds while Abby opened her gift and then she opened hers. She pulled out the necklace from the little blue bag and had a similar reaction. "A turtle! Thank you, Olivia. You're the best!"

"You're both welcome. But I haven't told you the really big news yet."

The gifts were long forgotten as both heads went back to Olivia's face. "There's more? Tell us already!"

"Fitz and I are moving in together!" Olivia gushed excitedly.

"That is amazing! I'm so happy for you, Liv!" Abby got up and hugged her friend tightly. "Can I pick 'em or what?"

"Abby, you didn't pick him. I did. Remember?" Olivia teased.

"PotAto poTATo." She said. "Have you told the parents yet?"

"We're telling them tonight. At dinner. It'll be the first time they have all four been introduced, so I'm a little nervous." Olivia admitted. "What if they don't agree? Or think it's a bad idea?"

"You deserve it, Liv. You really do. He is a good man. And he's good to you. And he is gorgeous. And he will be around for us to look at. You deserve it." Yvonne said.

"You make it sound like we all deserve Fitz, somehow." Olivia joked.

"You do all deserve me." A baritone voice broke through their little gathering. He had been listening to their gossip for the last minute or so and had been thoroughly entertained. He was thankful that Olivia had friends she could talk to about any and apparently everything. It was nice to see in action. He liked that he had the element of surprise too.

All three female faces turned to the door to see him standing in the doorway. Only Olivia's face turned red. Abby and Yvonne were truly shameless in their admiration of him. "Fiiiiiiiiitz! How are you today?" Yvonne said with a huge smile.

He chuckled at her fake innocence. "I'm doing great. How are my three best girls today?"

"Babe, we've talked about this. Don't talk to them like that. It only makes things wor..."

"We are fantastic. Just listening about your weekend at the beach. It sounds like you two had a great time!" Yvonne turned to Olivia and sweetly asked, "What was that senseless thing you were telling us about?"

Fitz gave Olivia a questioning look and Olivia shot daggers at Yvonne with her eyes. "I think we're done here. You two should be all caught up now."

"Not that I'm complaining at all, but what brings you by today, Fitz?" Yvonne asked.

"Olivia's car is getting serviced so I came to pick her up. And I brought you two gifts from the beach." Fitz stated proudly as he brought two bags from behind his back.

As the two women opened their gifts, Olivia walked into Fitz's arms and hugged him close and he kissed the top of her head. They watched Abby's face light up evilly as she held up the cape to show Yvonne. "This is perfect!" She flung her arms around his neck, after hip bumping Olivia out of the way. "Thank you Fitz."

"You're welcome," he chuckled.

Yvonne put her coffee mug up close to Olivia's face. "Do you see what that says? World's best assistant. Do. Not. Forget it."

"I'm pretty sure it will be the only mug you'll be drinking from for the rest of time, so it'll be difficult to forget." Olivia said dryly.

"Thank you for getting us something. You didn't have to do that. It's really nice." Yvonne said sincerely. Inside she was dying. He touched my coffee mug! He picked it out for me! She gave him a side hug and her eyes crossed when she smelled his cologne. Sex on a stick indeed!

"Congratulations on moving in together. That is so great!" Abby said. "I hope it goes well with the parents tonight. Fill us in tomorrow, Liv." Yvonne said gleefully, holding her mug like it had the cure for cancer inside.

"Speaking of dinner, we'd better get going if we're going to beat them to the restaurant. Have a nice evening ladies. I'll see you soon." Fitz waved to them and Olivia walked out with him. Abby and Yvonne's giggles could be heard from Olivia's office all the way to the elevator. "What were the three of you talking about in there?"

"Just girl stuff." She replied nonchalantly. Fitz grinned to himself and stayed quiet.

Olivia and Fitz did beat the parents to the restaurant, but only by five minutes. She had taken forever to pick out what to wear and had changed dresses three times before he finally assured her that she looked perfectly beautiful. He held her hand as they walked in to calm her nerves, although he didn't quite know what she was so nervous about. His parents loved her and hers him.

They took their seats at the table and she fidgeted with the silver wear until he chuckled at her and picked up her hand and kissed it. "You have no reason to be nervous. We are grown adults who love and are committed to each other. It's going to be fine. Calm down, babe."

"You're right. I'm sorry." She leaned over to kiss him and heard a throat being cleared loudly right behind them. Olivia looked up to see her father looking at them. "Hey, Daddy." She stood up and hugged him as he shot a look at Fitz from over her shoulder. Now Fitz was nervous.

"Hey, Munchkin." Nathaniel hugged his daughter and then tucked her into his side. Fitz stood up and shook her dad's hand said hello to him.

Olivia's mom hugged her baby and hugged Fitz as well. The four of them had just sat down when Fitz's parents stepped up to the table. Everyone got back up and Fitz made introductions between the men. "Nathaniel Pope, this is my father Thomas Grant." The two men sized each other up silently and shook hands.

"Nice to meet you," said Nathaniel. "Olivia tells me you were a school teacher. Great job. Very admirable. Shaping young minds. Do you miss it at all?"

"Hell no!" Thomas replied quickly. "Retired life is for me. Besides, I wouldn't have the patience for the kids in school these days. They think they know it all with their gadgets and smart phones. It's not like it used to be with a good old fashioned calculator and a hard back book."

"You got that right. Kids nowadays have no idea what school or life was like back then. They have it too easy now with gizmos doing the work for them." Nathaniel replied passionately.

"What is it you used to do, Mr. Pope?" Thomas inquired.

"Call me Nathaniel. Once upon a time I worked as auto mechanic. I worked my way up and eventually owned my own shop where I serviced all kinds of cars. Back when cars were made of steel and parts that actually protected folks in accidents. Nowadays, it's plastic and flimsy stuff." Nathaniel replied with disgust. "And before you ask me if I miss it, I don't. I'm enjoying retired life too. Besides, I wouldn't even know how to work on a car with all these computerized parts inside them now."

After all four of the parents had shaken hands, Thomas said, "Nathaniel, let's you and I sit down, have a drink and chat for a while before we figure out what these kids of ours are up to."

Nathaniel looked over at Fitz and Olivia and back at his new friend. "Thomas, I do believe that will help my nerves."

Emma and Lila hugged each other tight, as if they had known each other for years. "Your hair is so pretty, Lila. How do you get those gorgeous curls?"

"I pay top dollar at the beauty shop." The two moms cackled together and Lila said, "I think we might need to go shopping together sometime, because that outfit you are wearing is to die for!"

"Thank you, but it's nothing special. I got it at JCPenney off the clearance rack." Emma whispered.

"Nah uh! We are gonna have to take a trip over there one day next week. Maybe do lunch too. And get pedicures! If that works for your schedule?" Lila asked.

"Yes, ma'am. That sounds like a fun day. I'll make it work! I'll give you my cell phone number before we leave and we will plan it out later this week." The two women grinned at each other and then Emma asked the burning question. "What do you think these two have to tell us? We aren't here just for dinner and good times."

Lila looked over her shoulder at her daughter, who was sitting next to Fitz at the table and sipping her wine with a big grin. "Lord, there's no telling. They are up to something though. Those are nervous faces."

They chuckled quietly and Emma said, "Young love is so cute though. Whatever they want to tell us, it's special to them." She looked over at the two grown men huddled up together talking about old times. "And you know those two are gonna make it difficult.

Lila looked over at them. "I know that's right. They make life interesting though." She smiled at her husband.

"It looks like our parents could care less if we were even here." Olivia whispered to Fitz.

He chuckled at her and put his hand on her thigh. He leaned close to her ear and said, "Well, in that case..."

"Fitz! How is the bakery doing?" Nathaniel asked.

"Now they notice us." He whispered to her. Olivia chuckled at him and Fitz said in a much louder voice, "It's going great dad. Busy as ever. School is starting back next week so I'll be busy planning field trips with the school administration."

"How is my future daughter in law, the lawyer doing?" Thomas asked.

Nathaniel's head snapped from Olivia, back to Thomas, and then back to Olivia. "Is that why we're here? Are you two engaged? Because I don't see a ring on my baby's hand! And the only way my daughter could be engaged is..."

"Nathaniel, stop it!" Lila warned.

"What?!" Olivia exclaimed. "Are you crazy?" Fitz's head turned sharply to Olivia's and he knit his brow. What the hell was she talking about? He could easily see them engaged. She didn't know that but he could just the same.

"Well, then why are we here? There is bound to be a special reason. And if the two of you aren't engaged, that means..." Nathaniel's mouth opened wide and he fell back into his chair.

"Fitzgerald Thomas Grant! Did you get this sweet girl pregnant?" Thomas shouted. All eyes in the restaurant turned to their table.

Olivia slid down her chair, wishing to be invisible, but Fitz held onto her elbow. "Well it started out well enough." He whispered to her. He kissed her temple and shook his head. "Can't we all have dinner together so the four of you can meet each other without an agenda?"

"NO!" The four parents said together.

"Just tell us what is going on, honey." Emma said.

"We aren't stupid you know!" Nathaniel retorted.

"We were young once too, son." Thomas said with a knowing smile.

"Baby, just say it. So your fathers can breathe it in and accept it." Lila said kindly.

Olivia and Fitz stood up and he pulled her to his side. The two of them looked at each other and smiled. Olivia nodded her head excitedly. Fitz took a deep breath and said, "We're moving in together."

"Oh hell, is that all? Where's the waitress? I'm ready to order dinner." Thomas huffed.

"You could have just called and told us that, Munchkin. Thomas, what are you having?" Nathaniel asked as he looked over the menu.

It was a very anticlimactic moment for Fitz and stood there with their mouths open as their fathers went right back into their previous conversation. The mothers, however, went into over drive.

"I'm so happy for the both of you. Don't pay any attention to those two old fools. They are happy for you too. They were terrified it was something much bigger and scarier for them to deal with." Lila said. She got out of her seat and made her way to the happy couple. She hugged them together at once and kissed their cheeks. "One day you WILL have me some pretty grandbabies!"

Fitz loved Olivia's mothers way of thinking and enthusiastically said, "Yes, ma'am!" While Olivia gave him a look that said something else entirely.

Emma was standing by next to congratulate them. She hugged Olivia tightly and said, "This is a good thing. I knew from that night at the hospital that you are good for my baby. He's a pain in the ass sometimes, but just remember that's his fathers fault." Olivia chuckled and held on to her neck. "You call me if he gets out of line. But I expect he already has, or the two of you wouldn't be moving in together." The two women grinned at each other.

"Fitz, my boy, you'd better take good care of her! As your daddy says, 'you ain't too old to get your ass whooped!"

Again his answer was, "yes, ma'am."

Once everyone was seated again, and their orders had been taken, Fitz stood up once again and said, "I'd like to make a toast." Everyone at the table got quiet and gave him their attention. He turned his to Olivia. "It wasn't that long ago that I was living the life of a bachelor and wondering where my true love was at. Turns out I just had to look at the dry cleaners. You aren't like anyone I have ever known. You are funny and smart and...everything I could ever want in a move in buddy." That got some chuckles from the table. "And even if our moving in together isn't as special to some people," He cut his eyes to the two fathers, "as it is to us, I'm very excited about this new chapter in our story. And the many others that will follow it. I love you, babe. To Olivia!"

"To Olivia!" Everyone chimed and clinked glasses with huge smiles on every face.

Olivia stood up next to him and pecked his lips. "I love you." They looked around the table and smiled at the ease at which their parents had gotten along. "What was I so nervous about? I can't even remember now."

He wrapped his tanned arms around her and said, "I told you it would be fine. All you gotta do is trust me." He touched her lips in a feather soft kiss and rested his forehead on hers. He pulled away from her and asked, "What was with you freaking out when your dad thought that we were engaged? You acted like that was the last thing you wanted. I didn't understand."

"Oh! My parents are very open minded about just about everything. But there are two things that my father is very adamant about. Whoever marries me has to ask for his permission first. And there is no engagement without an engagement ring. He's weird. But we don't have to worry about that."

"Well, that's to be expected I would think. The man should ask the woman's father for permission to marry her. It's just respectful since he's the only man that's been in her life for her whole life. And I also happen to agree with him on the second thing too. There should be an engagement ring. A big fat shiny engagement ring. It's probably reassuring to the dad that he can take care of her or something." Fitz pecked her lips once. "I'll keep that in mind if we ever get to that place."

Everyone was full. The meal was fantastic. Thomas paid the bill, after much argument from Nathaniel and ladies rolled their eyes at the men. Why did paying a meal bill turn into a pissing match between males every time? Everyone was standing up and were saying their goodbyes, when the waiter brought Fitz a brown paper bag with dessert inside.

Thomas was close enough to Fitz and Olivia to hear their devilish chuckles and whispered and excited plans for later that evening with it. He was happy Fitz had found such a good match for himself. Olivia seemed to be damn near perfect for him. And the love she felt for his son was always so apparent on her face. His son was happy. It was all a dad could really wanted for his son.

Except grandbabies. Thomas wanted grandbabies that lived close by so he could spend time with and spoil them. But he'd keep that to himself for a while longer. Fitz and Olivia were still in the new part of love. They needed to discover themselves a bit longer. He caught his son's eye, and with a wink and a grin and said, "I remember the days of late night dessert. Enjoy it son."


	28. What Did You Have in Mind?

What Did You Have In Mind?

Fitz was decorating a birthday cake for a seven year old girl at the bakery. It was due to be picked up later that afternoon, but he was struggling with the colors of the frosting. The young girl's mother asked for neon pink and lime green. An ugly color pairing in Fitz's opinion, but who was he to know what was cool to a seven year old girl? The damn green was looking too yellow for some reason. He continued adding color to the frosting to make it look more lime, but it wasn't working. He felt his eyes crossing. He needed to step away from it for a little while.

Just then his cell phone rang. He had never been so thankful for the device. He pulled it out of his pocket and looked at the screen. Charlie's ridiculous face looked back at him. It was a photo Fitz had taken of him on a boys night out last fall. Charlie was drunk and wearing a pink eye patch he had found in the bar they had visited. He grinned at the memory and said, "Hey, Charlie."

"Fitzy! How the hell are ya man?" Charlie asked happily.

"Right now I'm decorating a cake, but it's annoying the hell out of me. Your timing is perfect."

"Maybe you're in the wrong business if cake annoys you? I'm just sayin'." Charlie replied.

"It's a perk of the job sometimes. How have you been?" Fitz asked.

"I've been great. I'm calling you about the house we were talking about the other day. The one a friend of yours has for sale?"

"It's not for a friend of mine." Fitz started walking to his office and pulled the phone away from his mouth long enough to tell Charlotte he would be back to deal with 'the pink nightmare' shortly. Once he was sitting behind his desk, he continued his conversation with his friend. "I was talking about my house."

"You're selling your house? Why? Is the bakery business that terrible?" Charlie didn't have a lot, but he wouldn't let his friend lose his house.

"Yea, I'm selling my house." Fitz was happy with his decision and knew it was the right one. "The bakery business is great actually."

"It can't be that great if you're selling your house for cash? I can float you a loan to help you get back on your feet." Charlie didn't want Fitz to feel uncomfortable about getting a loan from a friend. "It's no big deal, man."

Fitz chuckled into the phone. "Everything is fine. Really. If you would just let me..."

"There is no shame in needing to borrow money. It happens to the best of us. Just tell me where you want to meet up and I'll..."

"Charlie, you're my hero." Fitz whispered into the phone. He was met with dead silence of the uncomfortable kind. He waited fifteen seconds and laughed. "Listen, I don't need a loan. Although I appreciate you wanting to help me out. All kidding aside, that's really great of you. But I'm moving in with Olivia. So I'm selling the house because I want to. Not because I need to. "

"Oh. Well shit, man. Congratulations, Fitzy! You're moving in with a girl! I'm really happy for you." Charlie gushed. "Olivia is great. If you don't fuck it up with your assholery, it's gonna be great."

"What are you talking about? I'm the best thing that's ever happened to her." Fitz joked.

"That right there, is the assholery I'm talking about." Charlie pointed his finger in stern warning, as if Fitz could see it.

Fitz grinned into the phone. He loved to push Charlie's buttons. "So what do you think? Would you and Quinn want to come by the house sometime this week? You can walk through it to see if it's something you'd be interested in."

Charlie, who had spent his fair share of time at Fitz's house, knew it well. He loved the house, but had always looked at it through the eyes of a guest. Not a potential buyer. He had no idea what to look for or what to ask. And if he found a problem, how did he go about bringing it up to his friend? The key was Quinn. "I'll call the wife and see if she has an hour to kill later on today and let you know. Thanks for thinking of us first. It means a lot, man."

"Let me know something. I've got to go finish this damn cake. Talk to ya later." Fitz ended the call and walked back to where the cake waited for him. He glanced into the bowl to figure out how to fix the color, but noticed it was the perfect shade of lime green. He glanced around, but no one was paying him any attention. "Whoever did this is getting a raise!" He yelled. He took it as a good omen and finished the cake in no time.

Quinn and Charlie pulled up in front of Fitz's house at six. They were supposed to meet him at six thirty, but they wanted to scope it out alone first. Quinn looked out the car window and eyed the house skeptically. She didn't want to like it. She had already voiced her concerns about buying a house from a friend of Charlie's. Several times. He had wisely kept quiet and let her talk. He wasn't going to push her into making a decision one way or another. It needed to be one they agreed on together.

"All I'm saying is buying a house is a big deal. Huge even. We aren't going to decide to buy this just because he's your poker buddy. We need to look at it objectively. We're going to be raising a kid in whichever house we choose. We need to keep that in mind." Quinn stated matter of factly.

"I agree completely. I'm just doing a favor for a friend and looking at his house. It was kinda nice that he thought of us first though. You gotta give him that." Charlie reminded her.

"You're right." She was silent again and back to looking at the house. "It is a cute house. Let's get out and walk around."

They stepped out of the car and walked briskly side by side toward the brick building. They went to the backyard and Quinn grinned widely. "The neighbors aren't like, right on top of it. And the yard is big. I like that. I'd want a fence around it though."

"Well, yea. It would keep the kid safe when it starts walking around. And when we get a big dog, it would give him lots of room to run around." Charlie plotted.

"Big dogs mean big piles of dog shit. No way." Quinn said firmly.

At least he tried.

"Besides, I'm not even pregnant yet. I could come out here and practice my bow and arrow skills." Quinn could already see it in her mind's eye. She was not getting excited. She was seeing if her vision fit into this space.

"I can't have a dog running around, but you can practice your G. I. Jane skills? That seems fair." Charlie hoped guilt would make her cave.

"You want a dog?" She asked. "Go live with your mother. She has four of them. I'm not having a dog, and that's the end of that discussion."

Charlie sulked as they walked to the front of the house. If they had a boy, the kid was getting a dog. Boys and dogs go together. She'd just get over it! A terrifying thought hit him. What if their only kid was a girl? He'd have two of them bossing him around. And what if the girl kid wanted one of those little fuzzy ankle biter dogs? Charlie felt his balls shrivel up. On second thought, a mini Quinn wouldn't want a little yappy dog. She'd want a fucking great dane. Or a german shephard. Something big. So she could ride it and tame it and take it on adventures. He smiled at the thought. A girl kid wouldn't be so bad.

"Charlie! What the hell are you doing? Come on! You gotta see this!" Quinn coaxed excitedly.

Charlie followed her to a window and looked in. "Yea? It's Fitz's office. So what?"

"Shut up. No. It's the baby's room. It has a bay window like I told you I wanted the nursery to have, so we can look outside or read books, or whatever. It's freaking perfect! I need to see the inside, but I'm pretty excited already."

"Are you saying you like this house and you're interested in maybe buying it?" When she smiled and nodded her head, Charlie pulled her in for a hug, feeling equally excited.

A car pulled up and the two glanced over to see Fitz getting out of his car. "Play it cool and don't let him know we like it." Quinn stepped out of Charlie's arms and put her bitch face back on. "Let's see what the inside looks like and hear what his asking price is. I'll bet he wants an arm and a leg for it."

Charlie put on a big smile as Fitz walked up to them. "Hey guys." Fitz said happily. He shook Charlie's hand and gave Quinn a hug. "Have you been here long?"

"Nah. Just long enough to walk around the outside of the house. We might have peeked in a window too." Charlie said, pointing to Quinn from behind her back.

"And? What do you think of the yard? It's pretty big. If I had the time to take care of one, I would have gotten a dog. Great space for a dog to run around." Charlie was making a slicing motion across his neck, signaling Fitz to shut the hell up. Quinn turned around to look at him through narrowed eyes. Fitz got the message.

"Dogs just shit all over the place, man. Who needs the aggravation of that?" Charlie said confidently.

"Are you guys ready to look around inside?" Fitz said, changing the subject. When they both nodded, he reached for the key inside his jeans.

Inside the house, Fitz stood by the door and let them know to come and get him if they had any questions. He sorted through his mail in the kitchen as Charlie and Quinn walked around at a leisurely pace. One particular envelope in the small stack made him grin. After he had looked inside, he put the envelope in the freezer. No one would ever see it there. After the mail had been sorted, he sat at the kitchen table and looked through his email on his phone. He answered or deleted most of it. He sent a text message to Olivia letting her know he would be there as soon as they were done at the house.

A short while later, Quinn and Charlie made their way back in the kitchen. Fitz looked up and saw their expectant faces. "Well?" He asked.

"We can't find anything wrong with the house. No damage. Nothing that we hate. And believe me, with this one," Charlie pointed at his wife, "that's no small thing."

Quinn elbowed him in the ribs and asked, "It all comes down to the price. So just be straight with us. How much do you want for the house?"

Fitz grinned at them both. "I'll be honest with you. This house was left to me by an aunt when I was still in college. It's not a new house. It does have issues, even if you can't see them."

"What kind of issues?" Quinn asked skeptically.

"The carpet in the hall has come loose and it needs to be stretched or replaced. It's a tripping hazard where it bunches up." Fitz warned.

"Well, we've already discussed it and if we decide to get this house, we would rip all that crap up and put down wood flooring. What else?" Quinn wanted to know.

"The bathroom faucet drips constantly. It's so annoying to listen to in the middle of the night."

"The stem might need to be tightened or replace the entire faucet. That's not a hard thing to fix either. We want to know about the big problems." Charlie said. Quinn put her hand on her hip and braced herself for the bad news.

Fitz looked back and forth between his friend and his wife. "There aren't any big problems. This house has been well taken care of over the years. And since I lived alone here without pets or kids everything is still in pretty great shape." At Quinn's pursed lips, he added, "It has small wear and tear issues from me living here. Like scuff marks on the walls. Stains on the carpet, from having idiots like him and Rob over. I wouldn't lie to you guys just to sell my house. You're friends. Honestly, there isn't anything major wrong with it."

"Has it been appraised or inspected recently?" Quinn asked.

"I had it inspected earlier this year and it was fine. Nothing was found. It was appraised last year, and since the neighborhood hasn't changed I don't think the amount will fluctuate much either. But I can have it done again if you want?" Fitz offered.

Quinn and Charlie looked at each other and had a silent conversation with the looks they shot back and forth at each other. Quinn jerked her head toward Fitz while looking at Charlie. "It all comes down to your asking price. What did you have in mind?"

Fitz gave them a number and watched their faces. Charlie's mouth hung open and he stared at Fitz like he had grown another head. Quinn looked like she was waiting for Fitz to add another zero to the amount. When it didn't happen, she grinned widely and looked at her husband. She shrieked loudly and jumped into his arms. Charlie spun her around a planted a smacking kiss on her lips. "Is that a yes?" Fitz chuckled.

"That's a hell yes! Thank you, Fitzy. You've just made my old lady smile. I feel like I should pay you or something." He got cuffed on the back of the head by her. The two men happily shook hands. "When can you have your shit out of here?"

Fitz laughed and they discussed all that needed to be done to complete the sale and to get the paperwork rolling. "I'm going to come by one night this week to figure out what is staying and what is going into storage. We will be moving the majority of it out on Saturday. I don't have a need for the appliances in the kitchen if you want them? If you two want to stay here this weekend then you'll both have your asses at Olivia's house Saturday morning to help out. I'll feed whoever shows up." They both agreed to come.

Later that week Olivia and Fitz went to his house to try to sort out what was going into storage and what would go to Olivia's house. They had done the same with her belongings, and created a decent amount of space for his things to come into the house. They wanted to eventually buy a house together that was big enough to hold almost all of their stuff. Each of them had things that could be given to a local Goodwill or given to friends, but now was just for figuring out what was going where so the process on Saturday would be a smoother one.

"Which items do Charlie and Quinn want to keep?" Olivia asked as they walked into the living room.

"They want all the large appliances in the kitchen. The furniture in here and the kitchen table. They want the washer and dryer because theirs isn't as new as mine. And they also want to keep the bed in the spare bedroom. Charlie told me a long time ago it was the first place they ever had sex. Something I really didn't want to know." He chuckled at the thought. "I don't need any of that stuff anyway, so I don't mind. It's less stuff for us to load up and take to the storage facility too." Fitz replied.

"I'm glad they decided to buy your house. It's a great first home for a young couple who want to expand their family. I think they will be happy here." Olivia watched Fitz walk to her and open his arms. She walked into them and held him tightly.

"There's a lot of paperwork to be done, but I think they will be happy here too." He kissed the top of her head and asked, "And what about you, Miss Pope? Where will you be happy?"

"I'll be happy wherever you are." She sighed contentedly against his chest.

"My sentiments exactly." He murmured. "I love you so much."

"Mmmm, I love you too." Olivia said rubbing her nose against his. She tilted her head and captured his mouth in a heated kiss. He willingly gave as good as he got and groaned when her hands wound through his curls.

Fitz pulled away from her abruptly and held her at arms length. "Stop trying to woo me with your sexy ways. We have work to do and it isn't going to get done if you keep that up."

"Sexy ways? What do you mean?" She asked innocently.

Fitz raised his eyebrows and shot her a cocky smile. "You know exactly what you're doing. It's not going to work this time. We need to get this settled." His voice dropped an octave. "There are much better ways to spend Saturday night than over here trying to decide what is going to storage and what isn't."

"You can't blame a girl for trying." She chuckled. "Where do we start?"

"We might as well start here. I'll call stuff out, you give me your opinion, and I'll take it under advisement." He grinned at her. "The curtains will be donated. I don't see the need for keeping them."

"Agreed," she said.

"What about the lamps?"

"Storage."

"Ok. The pictures can also be put into storage. Let's go into the kitchen." He suggested. "I'm keeping my cooking appliances. Some of them were expensive and I use them when I bake at home, like the counter mixer. That really just leaves the food in the pantry. And my dishes. My mom bought them for me so I'll be keeping those."

Olivia looked around the room and walked over to the fridge to see how much food he had. She opened the door thinking a bachelor wouldn't have much inside other than beer. But it was practically full. Great. She opened the freezer door as Fitz looked through his cabinets. There were a few bags of frozen vegetables and envelopes? "Fitz, why do you have mail in the freezer?"

Just as she reached for the envelopes, she felt his large hand grasp hers and he spun her around. He pecked her lips and said, "That's where I hide my bills. It's easier to avoid them if I don't have them staring back at me from the counter. I'll get them on Saturday. Onto the bathroom." While holding her hand, he led her away from the kitchen.

"I want to keep my towels. The wall decorations I don't care much about. That's my mother's touch to the place. Everything else can either stay or be donated."

"Easiest room so far," she said. "What about the guest bedroom? Besides the bed we won't be touching." They poked their heads into the small room and Olivia noticed there wasn't really a lot of stuff in it besides the bed. Maybe moving him out of his house wouldn't be as difficult as she imagined?

"There's not much in here. Usually the guys use this room to sleep off a night of drinking. Or to have sex with their women." He chuckled. "Since Charlie and Quinn want to keep the bed, there really isn't anything in here to pack up. There's some random junk in the closet, but nothing valuable or anything I can't live without." Fitz opened the closet door and peered inside. There were some extra sheets, a few blankets, a baseball glove, and some photo albums. He shut the door and walked across the narrow hall to his office.

"This is my office. It will be kind of a nightmare to clean out. There are years of paperwork in here for the bakery. I'll have to go through it and see what can be shredded and what needs to be moved to the bakery for storage. I'll have to pack up my computer and figure out what to do with my shrine to Duff Goldman."

"Who?" Olivia asked.

"Duff Goldman." Fitz gave her a quizzical look and asked, "You don't know who Duff Goldman is?" When Olivia shook her head back and forth, he exclaimed, "You're killing me woman! Duff Goldman is a master pastry chef. He's been on television." When she said nothing he rubbed his temples in slow circles.

Olivia walked her fingers up his chest. "I only know one master pastry chef. But his name isn't Duff. Seriously? That's his real name?"

"Don't diss Duff."

"Right. So the guy I know is the best I've ever seen. I mean, I've never gotten private lessons from Duff but I can't imagine them being better than the one I had. He's a genius." Olivia gushed with sarcasm.

"Flattery will get you everywhere." He wrapped his arms around her waist and pecked her lips once. With a voice filled with wonderment he said, "And look at where we are!"

Olivia looked around and realized they were in his bedroom. She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck as he continued walking her backwards toward his bed with a huge grin on his face. "What do you want to take with you from this room?"

He looked around his bedroom feeling no remorse in selling his house. His future was with Olivia. He knew it from day one somehow. He was excited to be moving forward with their relationship. Letting go of what his past normal was toward what his future normal would eventually be made him ridiculously happy. "The only thing that matters most is the thing I'm holding onto."

He was so handsome. And his satisfied grin was absolutely contagious. It was amazing how much Olivia loved this man. They were moving in together! She had never lived with a man before. She was excited for this new direction of their lives. She wished she could bottle these happy feelings and bring them out on the days when a bump in the road eventually came along. She grinned back at him mischievously. "You know, this is probably the last time we will ever be alone in this house. I think we should take advantage of it. Don't you?"

Fitz pulled his green t-shirt over his head and threw it on the floor. "What did you have in mind, Miss Pope?"

Olivia smiled sweetly at him as her small fingers reached down between their bodies and unbuckled the belt on his pants. Fitz leaned down and nibbled on her bottom lip as she pulled the zipper of his jeans down. Her palms slowly traveled up his chiseled chest, bringing a hum of approval from her. "We could watch tv naked?" She suggested.

He pulled the zipper down on the back of her dress and bent to the floor, pulling the material as he went. He kissed her navel and watched for that familiar twitch. He hooked his thumbs into the waist band of her panties on her hips but didn't move them. He looked up at her and said, "There's nothing good on tv on Friday nights. Besides, I can think of other fun things we could do naked. Since we're alone."

Olivia was holding her breath. Waiting for him to move his hands. "Like what?" She whispered.

In one swift motion, Fitz pulled her panties down and slung one of her legs over his shoulder. Still looking up at her he said, "Like make you scream." His mouth went to work and she did in fact scream.


	29. Moving Day

**You can thank one of my reviewers for this early gift. This person nags me every single week to post another chapter before the Thursday deadline. Please, DO NOT say a single praise or thank you to the nameless annoyance (said in love) in your reviews because that will indeed make the nagging worse. **

**In all seriousness, I appreciate every single one of you for reading or following my crazy imagination. You guys are all rock stars to me. Happy reading!**

Moving Day

Saturday morning had arrived. Olivia and Fitz had tried to sleep late but the excitement of the day was just too much. Sleep was the furthest thing from their minds. They were still in bed, however, and were enjoying some quiet cuddle time before the house was full of people shuffling things here and there.

It was barely seven o'clock.

Olivia had her head on his bare chest and was absentmindedly playing with the hair on it. She wondered how different their lives would be once they were officially living together? She already knew he was fairly neat. And was mindful of anything domestic that needed to be done. She figured the hardest part would be watching him walk around the house naked, as he was prone to do when they were at home sometimes. She grinned and lifted the sheet to take a peek at his nakedness.

"Can I help you with something?" Fitz chuckled.

"Will you still be walking around the house naked and throwing sexual innuendos at me in ten years?" She waited for his answer as she held her breath.

"That depends." He said.

"On what exactly?" She demanded as she dropped the sheet. She felt disappointed that he didn't say yes immediately.

"On how many kids are running around. No one wants to see their dad naked. It would be creepy." When she was silent he felt like he should ask the question that was on his mind. "Do you want kids, Liv?"

"Eventually. Right now I am content with the way things are. With us. With my career." She knew she needed to mentally plan for what she wanted to know from him. "How many kids do you want to have?"

"Eventually? I want six." He pressed his lips together tightly to keep the laughter back. It was a good thing she couldn't see his face.

"Six kids, Fitzgerald? Seriou..." She shrieked.

"Hey! There is no one named Fitzgerald here right now!" He shuddered. "I don't really want six kids. I wouldn't mind two or three. But definitely more than one. Only children are brats. And spoiled. And always demand their way."

Olivia cleared her throat. "I think you're forgetting that I am an only child."

"Where do you think I'm getting my information from?" Olivia pulled a few hairs from his chest and felt satisfied when she heard him yelp.

Fitz decided to drop the conversation about kids for now. "Are you still going to want me when I'm old?"

"Well, your dad still looks great for his age, and I figure that's what I have to look forward to when you are older." She grinned against his chest waiting for it.

"You were checking out my dad?!"

"I needed a guideline to see what you'd look like in the future." She giggled as he tickled her side. "Ohmygod, Stop it!"

"That is so...Wait. Your mom still has a great figure. Yea, this could work out. I guess I'll keep you." He teased.

"Ok. I never want to hear you talking about how good my mother looks. I've learned my lesson and will never compare you to your dad again." This time she shuddered.

"I love you. Have I told you that today?" He asked with a lazy smile on his face as he played with her hair.

"You haven't. But I love you more." She said with a grin.

"It's not possible. What would you like for breakfast? I'll make you whatever you want. I figure I've got to feed the troops something when they get here anyways to get any work out of them."

Olivia lifted the sheet again and took another look. "Well, since you asked so nicely..." She proceeded to stroke his length and heard his sharp intake of breath. "I think I'll just have this." She edged her way closer as he got harder in her hand.

"Babe, we don't have time. Everyone will be here..." He groaned loudly as she took him into her mouth. "We'll make time."

Thirty minutes later there was a knock on the door. Olivia laughed all the way to the door as she hurriedly threw on clothes, not looking at what they were. She had been laying in bed with Fitz on top of her when she rudely stopped him from reaching his happy place with the round of sex that followed what she had started. "This isn't over, Miss Pope!" She heard him yelling.

Maybe he'd bring back his consequences? The thought made her shiver with joy as she pulled her shirt over her head and opened the door.

It was Abby. She looked Olivia up and down and grinned mischievously. "What the hell have you been up to this morning? As if I can't guess."

"What are you talking about? I just got up. We slept later than expected." Olivia lied.

"You were definitely in bed longer than you expected, but you weren't sleeping." When Olivia gave Abby a questioning look, she continued. "Your shirt is on inside out. Your hair looks like a five year old gave you a make over. And...is that a hickey on your neck?"

Abby reached over to touch her neck but Olivia swatted her hand away. "Fine! But you have to help me cover it up. I am going to kill Fitz!" Olivia took her shirt off and turned it right side out and put it back on.

She set her purse down on the table and started making coffee. "And where the hell is breakfast? Fitz promised there would be food!"

"Food is coming. Sorry for the delay, Super Girl." He kissed Abby's cheek and said good morning to her.

"Seems like your morning was a lot more productive than mine." She chuckled when Olivia's face turned red and Fitz smirked. "What can I do to help?"

Fitz pulled out two cartons of eggs from the refrigerator and said, "Crack these eggs into this bowl. No shells!"

"Seems fitting since you probably cracked Olivia's eggs already." The two of them laughed and Olivia shook her head back and forth. "Awww, where are you going, Liv? I'll stop the teasing. You don't have to go."

"I've got to go fix my neck because someone put a mark on it!" She glared at Fitz.

"I'll come help you, babe." He offered.

"Stay away from me! You've done enough already." She warned.

"I wouldn't say enough. I mean, a job unfinished..." At her deadly look, he stopped talking and went back to the food.

Everyone had arrived by the time breakfast was done. Stephen, Charlie, Quinn, Rob, Yvonne, and Jason had all been introduced to each other. An interesting combination of people who were the closest to the happy couple. And all of them had taken time out of their day to help out. For free food of course.

Plates were stacked up on the counter beside a bunch of forks. Everyone helped themselves and sat at the table or counters to eat. "Fitz, what the hell am I eating?" Charlie scowled.

"It's a frittata. Eat it! I don't want to hear 'I'm hungry' from you for another three hours." He warned.

"It's really good, Fitz." Said Stephen as he took another bite.

"Thank you, Stephen. It's so nice to have one dignified friend." Fitz shot Charlie a glare.

"Dignify this." Charlie threw his middle finger up at Fitz. "I know damn well that you made sausage or bacon. I can smell it." Charlie pushed his untouched plate away and said, "I'm not doing shit until I get real food."

"You're such a baby." Fitz said as he set a platter of browned bacon and sausage in the middle of the table alongside a steaming mound of scrambled eggs. "Eat up. I want my house to be completely empty by the end of the day."

"You and me both, man." Charlie said as he pulled Quinn down on his lap.

"What's the plan?" Rob asked between bites, thinking the frittata wasn't so bad. But he added some bacon to his plate for good measure.

"We're going to load up most of my stuff and put it into storage. Some of it will come here, but not much." Fitz explained.

"Why's that, boss?" Jason asked as he spooned a heaping amount of eggs on his plate.

"Well, because Olivia already has a house full of furniture, so duplicates aren't needed. And because Charlie and Quinn want to keep some of the bigger stuff I have in my house." Fitz explained.

"Our house," Charlie inserted. Quinn kissed him on the cheek with a smile.

"Whatever. Liv and I went over there and made mental notes of what would go where, so it should be a relatively easy moving day. Whatever I don't want to keep will be donated. Unless you people see something you want. Then, feel free to take it."

"Ummmmm" Yvonne quietly said as she arched an eyebrow.

"He's not something you can have, perv." Abby grinned at her.

Jason looked over at the two whispering women and Yvonne grinned at him, showing all her teeth, gave him a little wave, and whispered to Abby, "You're such a downer."

"Speaking of downer, have you and Jason hit the sheets yet?" Abby asked while Fitz droned on.

"That was the worst crossover ever." Yvonne chuckled. "And it's none of your business."

"Jesus. You sound like Liv right now." Abby started.

Olivia slid in between the two chatty women. "Will you two shut up. My sexy man is talking." She watched him for a minute and then added, "What the hell are we talking about anyways?"

Abby grinned at her friend. "I was asking Yvonne if she and Jason have done the horizontal hoochey yet?"

Olivia burst into laughter causing all heads to turn in her direction. She ceased immediately. "Sorry, babe. Abby just told me a funny joke. Please continue." When Fitz went back to rambling, reminding everyone that both sets of parents would be at his house later to bring lunch, she shot Abby a glare. "So have you, Yvonne? We want to know."

"I'm not sharing anything with the two of you! It's private."

"Holy shit! They have! We want details bitch! How long have you two been going at it? How good is he? Details, woman!" Abby excitedly whispered.

"And don't leave anything out." Olivia mimicked Yvonne's voice on a grin.

"What is SO interesting that the three of you just can't wait to talk about later?" Fitz asked, slightly annoyed.

"Yvonne and Jason are having sex!" Abby said excitedly.

"Abby!" Stephen chided.

"Why do I ask them questions?" Fitz asked out loud. All of the other guys slapped Jason on the back and congratulated him as his face turned bright red.

"The four woman will ride together, because they have been exiled from my presence." Fitz announced amid snickers from the men.

"Hey! I didn't do anything to deserve that." Quinn said defensively.

"Talk to them." Fitz said pointing to the grinning trio. "I don't want to hear about sex or babies or any of that shit today."

Quinn stared hard at Fitz. In a loud voice she said, "I just started my period. You got any tampons, Liv?"

All of the men groaned and immediately left the room. The women laughed and high fived each other. "This is gonna be a fun day!"

Over at his house, Fitz told everyone they would be packing and loading the donated stuff first since there was more of it. After some mild bitching and moaning, they grabbed empty boxes and started throwing stuff into them. They had one room boxed up and ready to be loaded in no time at all. The men started carrying the boxes out to the truck Fitz had rented the night before while the women started on the next room.

"Ohmygod! Is this Fitz as a kid? How cute was he?" Yvonne purred as she flipped through a photo album she found in a closet.

"Hey, perv! Get up off your ass and help us pack this crap." Abby scolded. She walked closer to where Yvonne sat on the floor still looking through the old pictures, preparing to yank her friend up. Instead, she plopped down beside her and squealed when she caught sight of a little boy with blonde curly hair riding a bike. "Awwww! What a cutie pie!"

The two of them flipped through several pages of the album oooohing and ahhhhing over the cuteness of young Fitz. He stepped into the room, looked at Olivia, and pointed at Abby and Yvonne with a scrunched up face. Olivia folded her arms across her chest and said, "They found your photo album and can't get enough of cute Fitz."

The two women jerked their heads up from the album and noticed that grown Fitz was now in the room. He grinned at them and walked over to see what they were looking at. "Well, I was a cute kid." He picked up the album and sat down between them flipping pages and explaining what was happening in each picture.

Olivia rolled her eyes at the three of them. "Hello! We have work to do. Besides, why are you hanging out with the exiles? Won't that get your man card revoked or something?"

Fitz glanced up at her. Her impatient side was adorable. "Nah. The guys are all outside taking a water break. They don't know where I am. And if it stays that way, I might be persuaded to give the two of you a photo of cute little me."

Yvonne looked at Abby and said, "Have you seen Fitz?"

"Fitz who?" Abby replied grinning.

Fitz kissed their cheek and pulled two pictures out of the album, handing them to the two smug women sitting on the floor. "My best girls." He chuckled as he stood up.

"Yea? Well, what about me? I'll tell all of the guys everything. And I don't give a shit about cute little Fitz." Quinn smirked as she stood in front of the door, blocking his way out. Fitz walked up to her and whispered something in her ear. Quinn's face turned bright red with embarrassment and she stepped away from the door silently.

Olivia watched the entire thing and wanted to know what he said to her. The two idiots on the floor were gushing over their newest possessions, like crazy teeny boppers who had just met their favorite singer. What just happened, she wondered to herself. She planned to find out later.

A few hours later, the parents showed up at Fitz's house with lunch for everyone. The younger guys helped carry everything into the kitchen, where the women had cleared a space. Fitz hugged his mom and he introduced the four parents to Abby, Stephen, Yvonne, and Jason. When the pleasantries were over Emma said, "It looks like you have been busy, dear. But there is still a lot to be done and the day is half over. Are you sure you're going to have everything out by the end of the day?"

Fitz grabbed a chicken breast from the red and white box and took a bite. "That's the plan because Charlie and Quinn want to stay here tonight. They are keeping a lot of the big stuff, so it's not as much as it looks."

Olivia stood at the counter and set out paper plates and napkins that had been brought by the parents. She was asking each person what they wanted to drink and poured their requests into red plastic cups. Mr. Grant stepped up to her and told her what he wanted. She looked up at him and smiled. He gave her a hug and Olivia caught Fitz's eye from over his dad's shoulder. He raised his eyebrows and grinned at her. Olivia stuck her tongue out at Fitz and gave her attention back to Thomas.

"That son of mine isn't working you too hard is he?" Thomas asked.

Olivia leaned closer to him and saw Fitz watching them out of her peripheral vision."I let Mr. Big Britches think he's running things, but he's not." Thomas laughed heartily and Olivia joined in. She could feel Fitz walking their way before she saw him there.

"What is so funny over here?" Fitz asked, sliding his arm around Olivia.

"Just the little amount of work that's been done here this morning." His father replied before walking outside with Nathaniel.

"Olivia," Lila called. "Aren't you going to eat something? There's a lot to be done and you're going to need your strength."

"Yea, momma. I just wanted to make sure everyone had something to drink." Olivia patiently replied.

Fitz leaned close to her ear and whispered, "You really are going to need your strength later on. To finish what you didn't this morning." He heard her hum in approval and it was enough to keep him going.

"Do I get a photo of cute little Fitz?" She flirted.

"Why would you want little Fitz when grown up Fitz is all yours?" He flirted back.

Olivia grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him to her for a kiss. "Good point."

"Isn't there a closet around here where we can escape for a few minutes?" He asked.

"You and your good point need to learn some patience. Tonight we will be all alone. No interruptions." She kissed him again and quietly added, "Our place has lots of closets, if you get any ideas."

Fitz pulled her close for a hug and whispered, "I think I'm going to like living with you, Miss Pope."

"Alright you two. Let's get going. It's going to be a long afternoon unless we get busy." Lila said. Fitz and Olivia scurried away. "Nathaniel?" She called out.

Emma crooked her finger to Lila and started walking into another room. Lila silently followed. The two women stood in the doorway, with hands on their hips of Fitz's spare bedroom. The two older men could be seen through the barely opened blinds, sitting outside on her lawn furniture, smoking cigars. They listened to their meaningless conversation about 'the good ole days' and grinned at each other.

Emma stepped into the hall and called out for her husband. She poked her head back into the room and they watched as the men jumped up out of their chairs, snuffed out their cigars, and acted busy. The two women chuckled at their mates. "I'm so glad Fitz is in Olivia's life, but I'm not sure it was a good idea for those two to meet." Lila chuckled.

"I know what you mean. Thomas was on the phone with Nathaniel the other day acting like he was talking to our mechanic about Olivia's car. It was the funniest damned thing." Emma laughed. "Let's go get them motivated."

After lunch everyone got back to work. Except Charlie and Quinn. They were excited to be staying in the house tonight, and happy to help get all of Fitz's stuff out of it. But they found themselves walking around the rooms and excitedly making plans while everyone else worked. The two of them were basically useless at their soon to be home. They didn't care, and everyone else understood. The women even chimed in with their own opinions when the opportunity presented itself.

Rob had walked in on Charlie and Quinn making out in one of the bathrooms. "What the hell? I need to take a piss!"

"Go outside like the animal you are, Rob!" Quinn said heatedly.

"Good one, Daredevil." Charlie said.

"Don't call me that in front of him. He'll run off and tell everyone. That's private."

Rob looked back and forth from Charlie to Quinn with a scowl on his face. "I'm not telling anyone anything about the two of you. You're both fucking weird. Daredevil and the Ball-less Wonder. Jesus."

Quinn stepped towards him and he ran out of the bathroom as fast as he could. "I hate him so much."

"Yea? Come show me how much." Charlie challenged. Quinn shut the door and excitedly wrapped herself around him.

Back in his bedroom, Fitz and Olivia were loading up boxes from things he had in his closet. He pulled out a weathered looking shoebox from the top shelf and was about to pass it to her over his shoulder to put in the box. He remembered what the contents were and instead flipped the lid off the old box and looked inside. He carefully pulled an old cracked photo out from the box and looked at it. A smile came across his face and he chuckled out loud.

"What's so funny, babe?" Olivia asked to his back. When he didn't answer, she said, "Fitz?"

When he turned around he was smiling, but he also had tears in his eyes. Olivia rubbed his shoulder and asked, "What is it? What's the matter?"

"I almost forgot all about this old box full of memories of me and Katie." Fitz said quietly. He picked up another picture.

"Katie? Is she an old girlfriend?" Olivia joked halfheartedly. She was standing next to Fitz looking down at the photograph he was holding. Two kids who looked to be about eight years old were dressed up for Halloween. The boy, who was obviously Fitz, was dressed up as the red Power Ranger. The girl, who had beautiful long brown curly hair and big green eyes, was dressed up as the pink ranger. The little girl was posing a fighting stance, while Fitz looked at her with complete admiration and love. An adorable moment in time captured.

"Her name was Katherine. And she was my cousin. Best friend too." Fitz picked up another picture. This time Fitz and Katie were swimming in a pool. It looked to be taken a few summers before the Halloween picture. They were splashing wildly and both wore huge smiles on the warm looking day.

"You said was. Did something happen to her?" Olivia asked, full of concern and curiosity.

Fitz dropped the pictures from his hand back into the box and closed the lid. He blinked his eyes a few times and cleared his throat. He turned to Olivia and smiled sadly. "She died when she was eleven."

"What? How?" Olivia fumbled.

"Leukemia." He said quietly.

Olivia's heart broke for Fitz. It had happened so long ago, but the pain from remembering was obviously still there. Not knowing what else to do, she took his hand and pulled him to sitting criss cross the bedroom floor. "Tell me about Katie. She looks like she was a real fun girl."

Fitz pulled Olivia onto his lap and held her tightly for a moment before he kissed the top of her head. He felt a little more peaceful from Olivia's closeness and he reveled in it for a minute before he spoke. "Katie was born six months before I was. Her mother was my aunt. The one who left me this house. Anyway, since our mothers were sisters, we were always together growing up. We went everywhere together. We thought of each other as best friends before we thought of each other as family.

We shared secrets. And dreams. And carried out some really crazy plans too. We knew the things the other liked and didn't like. We went to the same schools and most of the time were in the same class. There was one year our mothers thought we needed a break from each other." Olivia laughed at the tone of his voice. "They only did that once though."

Katie had turned ten in February and we were both looking forward to the summer. When the last day of school finally came, we went home with plans of sleeping in a tent in my backyard that night. Katie ended up going home a few hours after she got there. She wasn't feeling well. I was kinda mad at her for leaving, but promised to call her the next day.

That was the most boring summer of my life. Katie was always tired. Or cold, despite the ninety degree weather. She didn't feel like riding bikes anymore. Or swimming. Or having adventures. Or anything really. She was in bed sick a lot that summer too. She didn't have any energy. I overheard my mother on the phone with aunt Carol that she wasn't eating much anymore. And she complained about being in pain a lot too. But as a kid, I wasn't thinking it was anything serious. I was just mad that she wasn't around anymore."

"Awww, Fitz. You didn't know. That's a normal reaction for a kid to have in that situation." She rubbed his legs trying to comfort him.

"I know. When school started that fall, Katie wasn't in my class. When I complained loudly to my mother about it, she burst into tears and hugged me tighter than she had ever done before. She kept saying 'I'm so sorry'. I was glad she felt bad but it wasn't the end of the world. I found out later that Katie wasn't even going to school.

Olivia started rocking back and forth on his lap.

Finally, in December, I found out what was wrong with Katie. I overheard my parents talking about it in their bedroom. I heard the word cancer. They were worried about how to tell me and how I would react to the news. I burst into the room and called them both liars. They sat me and my brother down and told us everything.

I ran out of the house, jumped on my bicycle, and pedaled to Katie's house as fast as I could go. When I got there, I threw the bike on the ground, and ran into their house like I had done a million times before. I sprinted up the stairs to her bedroom. I stood outside her door for ten minutes. I knew if I went into her room, everything my parents had told me would be true. I needed to see it for myself, but I was scared to see it too. Finally, I turned the knob and opened the door.

Olivia stopped rocking.

Katie was laying in her bed and she looked real bad. She looked like she had lost some weight. And she was hooked up to a tube or needle of some sort. It was real. My best friend had cancer. I stood right there and started bawling like a baby. She looked over at me and told me to shut up. That heroes don't cry." Fitz's arms got tighter around Olivia and she felt terrible for him.

"She said I always had been her hero. That she loved me more than anybody else, except her parents. And that she wanted me to not be a baby, but to be strong. That she would miss me but would watch over me every single day after she was gone. I still cried like a baby. I didn't want her to die.

After she yelled at me to stop again, I finally wiped my nose on my arm and my eyes with my hands. I went and sat down beside her and we had the best conversation." Olivia turned around on his lap and hugged him tightly as she cried into his neck." She died three months later.

"I'm so sorry, babe." Olivia choked out a few minutes later. She wiped her own eyes and looked into his. "We need to take some of these pictures out of this box and frame them to put around our house. So we can see her. And remember her. She was important to you, so she's important to me."

Touched by her thoughtfulness, Fitz held her closely. "I think that's a great idea." He pulled back from her and said, "Katie would have really liked you. Probably more than she liked me. I love you so much."

Olivia picked up the shoebox and stood up. She reached her other hand down to Fitz and pulled him to standing and held onto his hand. "Thank you for telling me about Katie. I would have liked to have known her." She stood up on her tip toes and he leaned down the rest of the way so their lips touched in a sweet kiss. "I love you, babe. We can finish the rest of the packing tomorrow. Let's go home please."

Fitz smiled at her. He kissed her hand and said, "Home sounds really good right now."


	30. Work Space

**If you are reading this THANK YOU!**

 **I truly appreciate your reviews and each and every one of my followers. I always look forward to whatever you have to say about whatever crazy things come into my mind. This story is such a joy to write every single week. Some of you told me that the last chapter made you cry and that floored me! I'm sure it's not nice to say thank you for that, but thank you for that. As weird as it sounds, it's encouraging to me as a writer. I must confess I don't know what I'm doing most of the time, but as long as it's fun to write, I will continue to do so. Thank you again for supporting my imagination.**

Work Space

Finally. All of the boxes had been unpacked. Their things had been arranged to live together as if that's the way it had been all along. Picture frames had been purchased and photos of Fitz and Olivia were sprinkled throughout almost every room of their home. The picture Fitz took with her cell phone the first night she showed up at the bakery sat in a frame on the coffee table in the living room. Pictures of Katie had been added as well and Fitz had made mention more than once at how much he appreciated her thoughtfulness of adding his childhood friend into their home. Everything felt very homey and was a nice intermingling of his and her things. And there hadn't been much argument over what would go where. A successful move in by anyone's standards.

There had been the random comments made about closet space and shoe count. And conversations about whether the toilet paper should fall over or under the roll. Which days laundry would be done. Nothing overly worrisome. But things that needed to be discussed.

The only bump had been deciding who got the spare bedroom for office space. It had always been Olivia's and she didn't want to give it up completely. But Fitz too needed space to set up his desk and computer for when he worked from home. Or was goofing off playing some online game with the guys. Which wasn't often.

"This is not a huge room, babe. How are we going to settle this?" Olivia asked. "I need to have room to work from home on cases when the situation arises."

"And I need space to work on stuff for the bakery. It's so much easier to get paperwork done when I'm away from work. No interruptions. No demands. It's just easier." Fitz explained.

"So what do you suggest?" She said with pursed lips.

"What if we both use the room?" Fitz offered.

"How are we gonna do that? I just said the room is too small." She demanded. "Are we going to use the same computer and take turns? Like the public library?"

"No, we aren't going to take turns on the same computer. Smartass. You might need to get a smaller desk so both of our stuff will fit in there. We'll have to think of something because we both need the space."

"But Fitz," Olivia began. "There isn't enough room is what I'm telling you. I practically have all the space taken up with my stuff. How are we going to fit yours in there too?"

He ran his hands through his hair. "When we buy our first house together, let's make sure it has plenty of rooms in it so this discussion never comes up again."

"Ok. But how does that change the situation we are facing right now?" she said with her hand on her hip.

"You are going to have to downsize your work space some. There's no way around it, Liv. We both have jobs that from time to time force us to work from home. We both need a space that will allow us to do that. I need to get in there too. There's no way around that either!"

They walked into the medium sized room and looked around. She could improve the way she worked in there, she thought to herself. Her files could go into the closet on some shelves. And she could get some of those hanging wall organizers to alleviate some of the pandemonium too. And she could get a smaller desk soon. It could work. Besides, how much space did he really need? Olivia closed her eyes, took a deep breath in, and focused on compromising.

She had entirely too much shit in the room, Fitz thought. There was no way she needed all of this space! Olivia had papers everywhere. On her desk. On the small table. On the floor. It was probably her own unique little filing system and she could probably find anything she wanted when she needed it. But it wasn't going to be able to stay that way once he got in there. And even if she did need all of it, she was going to have to rearrange it somehow so he could squeeze a desk in here.

"See, if you got a smaller desk, just until we eventually move, I think it could be doable. I don't need anything other than my small desk. My computer and everything else I need would sit on it. You could have the rest of the room for whatever." He felt like he was compromising and gave her a smile. "Unless you want to set up half of the room the way you want it and I set up the other half the way I want it? Fifty - fifty."

"So this is gonna be like an episode of the Brady Bunch? Are we going to run tape on the floor down the middle of the room to effectively split it in half?" He had a lot to learn about living with a woman.

Fitz grabbed her from behind and held her close. "If that's what you want to do. But you should know that as soon as you put the tape down, I'll be sitting at my desk in my underwear. And you...well, you won't be allowed onto my side of the room." He spun her around to look at him. "Is that really what you want?"

Olivia held his gaze. "How hard can it be?"

"Oh, I assure you, Miss Pope. It can get very hard. I'll personally handle it to make sure that it is the hardest thing you've ever seen." Fitz said straight faced.

Olivia bit her lip. "Are we still talking about the room?"

"Maybe." Fitz leaned down and pecked her lips quickly. "What do you want to do? Take care of this like adults? Or slap down a line of tape and return to middle school?"

"I'm all for tape. I love tape. I'll go tape down a line right now." She wrapped her arms around his neck and started playing with his curls. Just like he told her he loved. She whispered to him, "You may very well make things hard, Mr. Grant. But fun fact about me. I like to work at home naked. I hope that's not a problem for you?"

Fitz was not going to give away how he felt about that. He smiled at her and kissed her forehead through gritted teeth. "That's not a problem at all. Whatever makes you comfortable. Let's make it a little more interesting though. The first one to cross the tape line gets an extra third of the room."

Olivia's eyebrows shot up to the ceiling. An extra third of room space would make things so much easier for her. She was fairly confident she could make him cross the line first. It was going to be difficult for her too, but he had zero will power when it came to her body. She'd use that to her advantage. "Are you serious right now? You want to place a bet on who crosses the line first?"

"Yup. Unless you don't think you can control yourself? I'd understand if you want to bow out. And I wouldn't hold it against you in any way. I'd never bring it up in fact. But when you do decide to take me up on this bet, because we both know how competitive you are, whoever the winner is, has bragging rights for a month." Yea, that sounded like a nice icing on this particular cake. Bragging rights were everything to both of them. And Fitz knew it.

"I want to clarify the terms of this bet." When he smiled at her she continued. "You're proposing that if we agree to put down a tape line, the first person to cross that line will be able to use an extra third of the room? So the winner has two thirds of the room and the loser has one third of the room? Is that correct?"

He gave her a lopsided grin. "And bragging rights. Yea, ma'am. That is correct."

"Have you lost your mind? You do realize that I will win this bet, right?" She could practically image the room with two thirds of the space being hers. That was much better than half.

Fitz pecked her lips once more. "Your dreamer side is very adorable. But you're not going to win this time. I am very determined, Miss Pope. You're going down."

"But you weren't being determined when we went bowling?" She chuckled at him when he stuck his tongue out at her.

"Well, once I found out you were a friggin ringer, I was just there to have fun. I knew I didn't stand a chance. This is very different. This is us on even ground, trying to make the other one lose control of themselves. All for the sake of a third of a room. We have lost our damn minds." He laughed at the thought of it. He released his arms from her and extended his right hand toward her. "So what do you say? Is it a bet?"

Olivia pretended to think it over. He had her at the mention of the extra third of the room. Bragging rights were everything. And for a whole month. This was going to be sweet. But Olivia was a lawyer. Her face gave nothing away. She walked around the room one more time and came to a stop right in from of Fitz. She shook his hand excitedly. "Hell yes it's a bet! I need that extra third of the room. I'll go find the tape and get started. Turns out, I have some work to do tonight." She said grinning enthusiastically. She knew he was losing his mind on the inside.

Fitz walked into their bedroom and continued to the bathroom. He put his hands on the edge of the counter, dropped his head, and concentrated on breathing. She was going to be the death of him. There was no way in hell he would be able to work in the same town as her, knowing she was naked while doing it. Much less the same room. He had to come up with a plan. A plan that would have her coming to his side of the tape line. And not the other way around. He picked his head up and looked at himself in the mirror. "Get it together, man" he told himself. "This is living with a female. They are tricky and use all their wily ways to distract you. But you can do this."

Olivia was on the other side of the bathroom door listening to Fitz give himself a pep talk. It was the funniest thing she had ever heard. She had gotten to him and he was struggling. Good. She hadn't really taken the news of an underwear clad Fitz sitting across from her in a small room with ease either. Living together was going to be an interesting transition for both of them. He wouldn't really do that to her, would he? Thoughts of Fitz 'making things hard' ran through her mind and she bit her lip again. The tape was a stupid idea. She wondered who would cave first?

A few hours later, the blue painters tape line ran through the center of the room and both Olivia and Fitz had set up their work areas in the limited space they had available. The only hitch was that the door was on Fitz's side of the room and not the middle of it. But they both had made the agreement that walking across the tape to leave or enter the room was the only reason Olivia had to cross it. She had plans of pushing that as far as she could. But Fitz didn't need to know that.

Olivia took a shower after eating dinner with Fitz and threw on a silk robe. She walked into the spare room, which was now a war zone of sorts. She sat at her chair and turned her computer on. She glanced up at the door, willing him to walk by. To notice she was in there. She had big plans for him when he did notice.

"Babe, do you want any coffee?" Fitz yelled from the kitchen. He had taken it upon himself to wash the dishes after dinner. He knew she would make a beeline for that damned room to torment him. So he washed the dishes. Anything to keep his mind occupied and his body away from hers.

"I'll take a cup if you're having some." She yelled back. He'd have to bring it to her she thought. And then she would have him right where she wanted him. Victory was just around the corner.

Fuuuuuuuuuck. Why did he just ask her that? She would ask him to bring her coffee in there. And he'd be stuck because she would be naked as the day she was born. He suddenly wished he could balance a coffee cup on his penis. That would teach her. He grinned at the happy but impossible thought. He played with his cell phone while he waited for the dark liquid to brew. Inspiration hit him. He didn't want to do it, but difficult times called for difficult measures.

Fitz scrolled through the contacts in his phone and pushed the phone icon when he found the sucker he was looking for. "Rob! Hey man. How are ya?"

"Hey, Fitz. How's living with a chick going? Are you drinking lite beer and eating salad yet?" Rob teased.

"Hell no! I made spaghetti for dinner. Men need manly food. What are you up to tonight?" Fitz asked cautiously.

"Uhhhh nothing. I'm bored as hell actually. What about you?" Rob asked. "I'm kinda surprised that you're not having sex in every room of the house."

Fitz glanced at the coffee pot. It was almost done brewing the four cups he had programmed it for. "Already did that." Fitz lied. "Listen, I need your help."

"You need me to come over and kill a spider?" Rob laughed.

"No, asshole. Do you want to make a quick fifty bucks?" Fitz tempted, hoping he would take the bait.

"Depends. What do you want me to do? I ain't into no kinky sex shit." Rob said in a serious tone.

"Why can't I have decent friends?" Fitz muttered to himself. "Look, I just want you to come over here and take Olivia a cup of coffee. That's all."

"What the fuck man? Do I look like a waiter to you?"

"Do you want the fifty bucks or not? It's easy money and you know it!" Rob thought about what his friend was asked. He knew there was more to this situation. Maybe the two of them were already fighting and Fitz was regretting moving in with Olivia? Maybe she was treating him like shit and he didn't want to deal with her tonight? Or maybe this was some fucked up thing that he really didn't want to know about? Whatever it was, he wasn't interested. "Nah. I'm good. I don't know what the hell is going on over there, but I'm pretty sure I don't want to be anywhere near it. Figure your own shit out, man. Good luck with that!" Rob chuckled as he ended the call.

Idiot! Fitz angrily shoved the phone back into his pocket and tried to come up with a plan. Nothing came to him. He was going to have to deliver madam's coffee to her. This was not going to end well for him if she was naked. He could talk a good game but when it came down to it, Olivia was right. He had no will power when it came to her.

He locked the front door, poured two cups of coffee, and carried them to the spare room. Surprisingly she was sitting at her computer in her robe and typing feverishly. She glanced up when he walked into the room. "You can bring it over here and I won't count it against you."

Fitz set his mug on his desk and took the few steps to her desk and set it down. He smiled at her and walked back to his own desk. When he was sitting in his chair he asked, "What are you working on?"

"Remember I told you about my friend Cyrus? That he and his husband want to adopt a child?" Olivia took a sip from her mug and watched his face as he tried to recall who she was talking about. Her robe slipped off one of her shoulders.

"The guy who discovered my business card was not just a piece of scrap paper!" Fitz exclaimed. "Yea." He had noticed her bare shoulder but pretended he didn't and kept his focus on her eyes.

"Right. Well, Yvonne and I have been doing some research on adoptions and have found an agency that wants to help them with their goal. They've already been interviewed by the agency and jumped through the appropriate hoops for them. We are just waiting for them to find a baby or child for them to adopt. How cool is that?" Olivia was beyond excited for her friends. As she leaned over to set her mug down her robe fell off her other shoulder. That one was intentional on her part. She watched his face for changes in his expression. But his eyes stayed glued to hers. She was going to have to step up this game.

"Really? So I might be Uncle Fitz soon? That's so cool! Of course it would be nice to meet the dads before I meet their child. Don't you think?" He said sarcastically.

"Actually, James has been texting me about that lately. He was being polite, but now that we are settled in here, he's practically relentless. Apparently they are just as anxious to meet you. They want to have dinner soon. What do you think about that?"

"Yea. I would love to meet them. Maybe it will be just as easy to win them over as it was Abby and Yvonne?" He took a sip from his cup and thought about it.

Olivia chuckled at him. "They aren't near the pushovers as my girlfriends are. You have your work cut out for you."

"I think I can hold my own. I won over your parents and that was not easy. Especially when you told them that I had been in the tub with you earlier the same day that I first met them! I think I can handle a couple of guys. Guy talk is my strong point." Fitz stated in a determined tone. He held up his coffee mug and said, "But anyways, congrats to you for making it happen, babe."

"Thank you, babe." Olivia stood up from her chair and took a bow. Which made her robe fall off. Execution was everything.

Fitz, who had been chuckling while watching her antics, stopped making any noise besides heavy breathing when he noticed what she had purposefully done. When he regained his composure, somewhat, he whispered the only words he could think of as she stood up. "Oh shit."

His eyes roamed her body hungrily. She was not playing fair. To her credit, she did warn him. Warnings, threats, and consequences were fun things to throw around. Until your girlfriend was standing gloriously and unashamedly naked in front of you with teasing eyes and a willing spirit. He licked his lips as his eyes narrowed in on her core on full display for him. He was going to lose this damn bet. Only naked Olivia could turn him into a loser.

Olivia could all but taste victory. The way he was staring at her was all the proof she needed that two thirds of this room would be hers in a matter of minutes. It was funny to her how men turned into mute starving wolves at the sight of an undressed woman. She chuckled aloud. And that's when the game changed.

Fitz heard her laugh. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath in. He opened his eyes and blew his breath out loudly. A curse word might have been mixed in with it. She was still smiling at him when his gaze locked onto hers. He smiled back at her. And then pulled his shirt over his head and then dropped it at his feet. He reached down and unbuckled his belt and then pulled it roughly through all the loops and dropped it to the floor in the same fashion as his shirt.

He noticed her smile falter some. Fitz wanted to become her undoing too.

With his eyes still on hers, he undid the button on his jeans and pulled the zipper down slowly. He watched her swallow hard but continue to watch his movements. Yea, two can play this game, he thought. You aren't winning anything today, woman. He pulled his jeans down the long length of his legs and unceremoniously step out of them. He winked at her and decided what the hell? He slid his boxer briefs off too. They were both standing in front of each other, separated by a blue line and thin will power.

Fitz reached his hand down and began stroking his length. Now it was Olivia who had the laser point stare at his already impressive erection. He started groaning as he worked his body slowly. Olivia took an involuntary step in his direction. She was two steps away from the line, but hadn't noticed. "Babe, this feels sooo good. But it would be so much better if you come here and took over for me. He misses you." He threw his head back and pushed his pelvis in her direction dramatically. Another groan by Fitz. Another step by Olivia. Her mouth was slightly open and she wanted to take over. Needed to.

She picked up her foot to take another step in his direction as he started moving his hand faster over his long hard length, willing her to put her foot down over the line.

Instead, Olivia raised her hands over her head and yawned loudly. "I'm going to bed. Early day for me tomorrow. Clean up in here when you're done, babe. She pivoted to the right and walked out the door. From the hall she happily chirped, "Nite. Love you!"

When she reached her bedroom however, she closed the door and leaned heavily on it. That had been close. She really had almost given in. She was going to avoid that room altogether from now on unless she was home alone. She got her breathing back under control and put on her pajamas. Olivia knew her mind wasn't going to turn off for quite a while after witnessing the show Fitz had just given her. But she crawled into bed anyway and willed sleep to come. She needed sex to get rid of this throbbing between her legs.

Fitz came into the bedroom a few moments after Olivia had gotten settled in bed. He was annoyed that his attempt had failed. He was sure it would have worked. And he needed to get laid in the worst way. He put on a pair of pajama bottoms and got under the blankets beside Olivia. He was NOT going to make the first move for sex after what just happened.

After twenty miserable wide awake minutes on both their parts, Olivia whispered, "Babe? Do you feel like fooling around?"

Fitz grinned into the dark room and continued to fake sleep. She was just as miserable as he was. That was something.


	31. Every Day

Every Day

They were cuddled up together under a blanket on the sofa watching a movie, typical behavior for a cohabitating couple. Olivia had poured them each a drink and Fitz had made her beloved popcorn. The white, fluffy, cardboard tasting treat had become likeable to him in situations like this and he ended up eating more of it than she did. She jumped at the jumpy parts and he laughed at her for it while holding her closer.

Every time something scary would happen, Olivia ended up a little closer to him. Fitz took note of this and decided he would be renting scary movies a lot more often! He rested his cheek on her head as she leaned against his chest. Her hair smelled good and his hand found its way into it so his fingers could play with strands as the movie continued. She was adorable. He was perfectly content.

Olivia had seen this movie before. It was ok, but not as scary as it had been advertised. She liked the closeness with Fitz and figured she could just climb into his lap, as was her right, or she could play the part of the scared girlfriend and get closer to him in a less obvious way. She opted for the latter and didn't regret her decision one bit. Fitz was playing with her hair and holding her close thinking she was terrified of this C- movie. He was cute. She was perfectly content.

When the movie ended neither one of them moved as the DVD played the credits. Fitz asked, "What did you think of it?"

"It was pretty good. I'm not a big fan of alien movies, but this one was alright. Can you believe that's the same actor who played in that action movie about stealing cars last year?" Olivia gushed.

"How could you tell who he was? He had his whole face covered in rubber and make-up to look like an alien." Fitz asked.

"Oh! I googled the cast to see if any of the actors were in anything else I have seen." Olivia explained quickly.

"But your phone has been on the coffee table since the movie started." Fitz stopped playing with the ends of her hair.

"Uhhh I googled it when you called earlier to tell me which movie you had gotten." Olivia hoped that sounded believable.

"Oh. That makes sense." Fitz went back to playing with Olivia's hair. "What do you want to do for the rest of the day? It's only..." He glanced at his watch. "Three o'clock. We've still got a lot of day left."

Olivia snuggled closer to him. "I'm kinda happy just sitting here with you under this blanket."

Fitz chuckled at her snuggly lazy side. "As fun as that sounds, we are going to have to get up shortly because we have to make a run to the grocery store."

Olivia pulled the blanket over her head. "Nooooooo." She groaned. "I hate going to the grocery store! That's why I eat popcorn eighty percent of the time and order food to be delivered the other twenty."

"Babe, you're missing some important things." He pulled the blanket off her head with a chuckle. "Number one, we are going to find out a lot about each other by going grocery shopping together. Two, we will buy enough stuff for the week so you can pick out half of this weeks dinners and I'll pick out the other half. There will be no popcorn this week. And three, more groceries means more cooking lessons." He wiggled his eyebrows at her repeatedly until she grinned mischievously.

"Fine. But I'm only interested for the last reason. I already know just about everything about you. And you can pick all the meals for the week. I'm just going to add cute to the experience." Olivia got up off the couch and went into their bedroom in search of a cute outfit to wear.

Fitz watched her go and shouted, "We're going grocery shopping. Not to the mall. Jeans and sneakers will suffice." When he was met with silence he called out, "Babe?" If she thought she was going to take an hour to get ready to go buy some food she was crazier than he thought.

He went into the bedroom and found her in their closet grumbling as she slid hangers of clothes to the left. "What the hell are you doing? This is not an outing that one gets dressed up for. It's the grocery store! You never see anyone you know at the grocery store."

"Why do you have so many clothes in here? I have no space for my stuff. And I can't find anything to wear! Why does this always happen to me? Damn it! I need to go shopping." She slid more hangers to the left, effectively squishing his clothes together in the process.

Fitz laughed at her and then wisely stopped when she shot him a look. "Babe, you have more clothes than any woman I've ever met. You don't need more of them. We are going to buy food, not to a party at the White House. Calm down. Throw on a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and some cute shoes. You'll be good to go." He kissed her forehead and walked out, letting her think about what he said.

Twenty long minutes later, Olivia walked into the living room wearing everything he had suggested. She was learning the art of compromise. While she would admit she was terrible at it, she was willing to do better. She stopped in front of him, stood up on her tip toes, and pecked his lips. "I'm sorry for my mini melt down. Are you ready to go?"

He wrapped his arms around her and said, "This is new territory for both of us. We have some things to learn about each other. You have no reason at all to be sorry. Let's go see what else we can discover about each other." He took her hand and they walked out their front door.

Olivia insisted on pushing the buggy once they got inside the store, which was fine with Fitz because it freed him to pick up whatever he wanted to put into the cart without having to keep up with it. Or deal with the damned wheels that always wanted to go in different directions when he pushed it. If she was happy to push the buggy then he'd give her that joy.

"Do we have a list to shop from? That's how my mom grocery shops." Olivia said as she pushed herself off and quickly put her feet on the buggy to ride a few feet away from Fitz.

"I prefer not to use a list. I like going up and down each isle to see what I'm inspired to cook. Is there anything you would like to have for dinner this week?" He was trying to include her in the decision making process, even though she had said she didn't want any part of it.

"I didn't know that about you. No lists. That must be kind of freeing. I live by post it notes. I'd just about forget to breathe without them. Whatever you want to make is fine with me. I'll eat just about anything. Except seafood. I can't stand seafood." She admitted.

Fitz stopped walking and looked at her with knit eyebrows. "Really? You don't eat seafood?" When Olivia shook her head he asked, "None at all?"

"None of it. It's all disgusting. And smells really bad too."

Before he walked away from her he said, "I'm going to have to re-think this relationship."

Olivia giggled at him and pushed the buggy toward him at a rapid pace. When she caught up to him she asked, "And what foods do you avoid altogether?"

"I'm a foodie. I'll pretty much eat anything. Except..."He stopped to look at the produce. He examined some bell peppers and cilantro and put them into the buggy before walking toward the tomatoes.

"Except what?" She eagerly asked him as she followed him through the produce section.

Fitz looked at Olivia and gave her a smile. "It'll be more fun if you guess."

"More fun for who?" She wondered aloud. Olivia tried to recall the foods she had seen Fitz turn his nose up at. There hadn't been any. She wondered what it was that he didn't like? He was never going to tell her. She would have to guess.

Olivia was watching him gently squeeze tomatoes before filling a bag with four or five of them when someone bumped into her cart. She looked up to see who the perpetrator was and saw the tired, but smiling face of Cyrus. Their eyes met at the same time and she smiled back at him.

"Liv!" Cyrus sang. "What are you doing in the grocery store? I thought you had minions who do that kind of thing for you?"

Olivia laughed at him and smartly replied, "I thought the same thing about you."

She stepped to him and the two of them hugged affectionately. "Where is your boyfriend? I know damned well that you aren't here of your own free will buying food. You are like me and get no joy from this mundane task that constantly needs doing. So where is he?" Cyrus looked around briefly and settled his gaze back to Olivia.

"Thank you! You truly are my soulmate, Cyrus. This is the last place I would rather be." She grinned at him and hooked her arm through his. "So where is James?"

Cyrus chuckled at her and they both scanned the produce section looking for their male counterparts. Olivia had found Fitz and James in an instant. They were together. And it seemed they were having a deep discussion about produce. As Olivia and Cyrus watched, James laughed out loud and touched Fitz's shoulder.

Cyrus looked at Olivia who was grinning at him. "I've got to go get my slut of a husband away from that ridiculously handsome man and remind him who he settled for."

Olivia chuckled at him and said, "Let me take care of it."

Cyrus knit his brow and watched her walk toward the two happy men. He wondered what she was up to. He didn't have to wonder very long and his mouth fell open a moment later when Olivia walked behind the good looking stranger and grabbed his ass. He watched the man slide his arm around her and plant a kiss on her temple. This guy was Liv's boyfriend? Cyrus, who was several feet away from the trip started laughing. James looked like he had seen a ghost and his eyes kept darting from Olivia to Fitz and back to Olivia in question. Fitz and Olivia looked at each other like there was no one else around them. She was all the way in love with this guy. He stopped laughing and smiled at his friend's happiness.

"James, go find someone else to play dumb with. This one is all mine!" Olivia grinned at her friend and released her hold on Fitz to hug James.

With his back to Fitz, James replied, "If this is your boyfriend, I have taught you well."

Olivia chuckled at him and introduced Fitz to both men. He shook both of their hands and said, "She talks about the two of you all the time. It's so nice to put a face with an infamous name. I was just telling Olivia the other day that we needed to meet soon."

"And Fitz was just telling me before we left the house that you never see anyone you know at the grocery store." She smiled sweetly at him.

"That explains those shoes then." James said sarcastically as he looked down at them with pity.

"See!" Olivia said directly to Fitz with a smirk.

"James, we just met. Why would you make my life hell on purpose in under five minutes? Do you know how long it takes this woman to get ready?" Fitz whined.

"Of course he knows. Do you see a hair out of place on his head? These two are the same people in different bodies, Fitz. I understand your plight, believe me." Cyrus slapped a hand on Fitz's back and they left the two divas behind at a complete loss for words.

After walking with Fitz and Olivia up and down another isle, James announced that it was time for he and Cyrus to go home. The four of them made plans to do dinner that week and after hugs and handshakes, the two men headed to the front of the store to pay for their items.

"Well that was interesting." Fitz said with a laugh. "I really like them."

"I have good taste in friends, Mr. Grant." Olivia teased.

He got close behind her as she pushed the cart. Fitz put his hands on her hips and turned her around to face him and then put his hands on the bar of the cart, effectively caging her in and forcing her to walk backwards. He leaned down into her neck and planted a kiss followed by a swipe of his tongue and said, "And you've got a good taste." She put her arms around his neck and he thrust his hips once into her center.

"Fitz! Stop! Someone will see us!" She hissed.

"Let's get this shopping done so we can go home and I can have you all to myself." Fitz whispered.

"Well, look whose making out on isle four!" A familiar voice said.

Olivia's eyes shot up to Fitz's and she whispered, "Ohmygod let go of me right now!" He chuckled at her but wisely stopped when her eyes went to slits for a nanosecond before she plastered a smile on her face and turned around, still in his arms. "This isn't making out, momma."

Olivia slid out from her boyfriend's trap and walked into her mother's arms. Her mother held her daughter close and said, "If that isn't making out, then I guess I'm doing it wrong." Lila laughed and winked at Fitz, who winked back with a grin. She held Olivia at arm's length to inspect her. "You look thin. Fitz, aren't you feeding my girl?"

Fitz walked the few steps between them and hugged Lila, letting his arm stay on her side as they both faced Olivia. "Yes ma'am. I'm doing my best, but she eats like a bird. Do you have any helpful advice?"

"I eat just fine so the two of you can stop ganging up on me. Why are you grocery shopping this far away from home, momma?" Liv inquired.

Lila looked at Fitz and said, "Did you see how she quite politely changed the subject on us? Well, two can play that game." Looking at her daughter, Lila asked, "Has that hickey faded off your neck yet? You know. The one I saw plain as day when we all showed up with lunch when Fitz moved into your house?"

Fitz dissolved into laughter as Olivia's face turned beet red. That was worth another dozen roses in his mind and Fitz made a mental note to make it happen tomorrow.

Olivia waited for him to quiet down and she looked at her mother and said, "That one is gone. But there is a rather large one on the inside of my thigh. Would you like to see it?" A woman was pushing her loaded grocery cart past them at that moment. She grinned at Olivia, stuck her hand up, Olivia high fived her, and the stranger kept walking.

Lila looked at Fitz who avoided eye contact with both women. He missed the victorious smirks they passed to one another as he fell silent as the grave and studied his shoe with fascination. "Is that so? I think I'll pass on that, baby." She made some disapproving noises and both of them started chuckling.

Fitz looked up, shook his head back and forth, and reluctantly grinned at them. He had a lot to learn about these two special women, who told each other everything. He appreciated their relationship and was thankful they could be so open with each other. "Are you out here shopping for a change of scenery?" He asked.

Lila appreciated that Fitz could handle the way she was with her daughter. He went along with their crazy humor, even when it was at his expense. Love was so much fun to watch in young people. "Actually, I spent the afternoon with your mother, Fitz. She and I have a weekly appointment where we get together and talk. Or go to lunch. Or shopping. Anything to get away from the men in our lives for an afternoon."

"Really? I had no idea the two of you had hit if off so well? That's fantastic. What's wrong with the husbands, if I may ask?" He already knew the answer to that question. His dad had filled him in a few weeks ago about their undercover shenanigans.

"Not a thing. They think we don't know that they do the same thing we do. Every week, like clockwork, my husband and your daddy go out for breakfast together and end up coming home sometime in the afternoon, full of mischief." Fitz smiled at her account of the mens get togethers. It sounded a lot more true than how his own father had described the dignified chats he had with Olivia's dad. "I think they are more excited about meeting each other than the two of you finding love."

Olivia slid her arm around Fitz and leaned into his side. "I think it's great that daddy has a new friend. It gets him out of your hair and he has someone he can talk to about the good old days. It's a great bonus that it's Fitz's dad. I'm glad both of our families get along so well."

"Me too, baby." She took a deep breath in and glanced at her cart. "I don't know how you got her into the grocery store, Fitz, but good on you. She needs to cut back on that damned popcorn and eat real food. I'm holding you accountable if my baby gets any thinner!"

"Yea, ma'am!" Fitz said with a pleased with himself grin. "I've already told her that popcorn is out for this week. Next week, I might have to call you for reinforcements though." Olivia poked him in the belly and stuck her tongue out at him.

"Well, I've got to head home now. Your daddy will be expecting dinner at six. And the wolf thing at nine." Lila hooted at her own joke and walked away from them.

"Wolf thing?" Fitz asked. Olivia had her hands over her mouth as she tried in vain not to laugh. She hoped she had her parents stamina when she was their age. She glanced at Fitz and knew that would never be a problem for them.

"Let's get this finished up. I enjoy the grocery store so much more now, but I'm ready to go home. Besides, you never told me what food you don't eat." She pouted.

"Don't blame me because you don't know everything about me like you think you do. But I'll tell you. For a price." He tapped her nose with his index finger and gave her a smirk.

Olivia rolled her eyes. "As long as I'm getting more cooking lessons, I don't care what the price is. Tell me."

His eyebrows shot up instantly. "Well, the price was going to be just a kiss, but after that interesting admission, I think we should go another round at the spare room again."

She grinned widely at him and gave him the free kiss. "You know you won't win. Just like you know you weren't asleep the other night when we were both starving for sex afterwards."

"I haven't lost anything yet. Except some of my dignity. So are you up for it? Because I certainly have proved that I can be." He teased.

Olivia bit her lip and glanced down at his crotch, causing him to laugh. "It was an impressive show, I'll admit that. But I'm onto you now."

"I wish you were on me. If I promise not to drag you out grocery shopping anymore, can we just go home and get naked? I want you so badly right now." He watched her eyes darken and she nodded vigorously. And that was when he attacked her lips, right there on the canned vegetable isle.

They pulled away from each other and grinned like kids with a secret. Olivia pushed the buggy towards the front of the store, swaying her hips a little more than usual, just to torment him. She would occasionally look at him from over her shoulder and notice that his eyes were glued to her ass. She got some satisfaction from that and continued doing it.

After paying for their items, they loaded them into her car and drove home as fast as they could without breaking laws. They each grabbed bags and jogged to the front door, unlocking it and dropping all of the bags onto the floor the second they were inside and the door was closed.

Fitz pulled her t-shirt over her head and pushed her chest first against the wall. Olivia reached behind her and unbuckled his belt while he undid the clasp on her bra, letting it fall to the floor. He massaged her breasts roughly and she reached into his boxer briefs and started massaging his hardening length.

"If you do all the grocery shopping from now on, I'll meet you at the door with sex every time." She said breathlessly.

He spun her around and unbuttoned her jeans. "Fine. But I'm going to start going to the store every day instead of once a week." He chuckled and slid her jeans and panties down her legs and stepped on the edge of them so she could step out. "Is that going to be a problem, Miss Pope?"

She wished he would stop talking and get busy. She jumped into his arms and kissed him passionately, letting their tongues fight for dominance. When she absolutely needed more air, Olivia pulled away from his lips and said, "I guess you'll just have to try it and see."

Fitz dropped her to the floor and turned her around to face the wall again. One hand went back to massaging her breasts, while the other one pulled her hair away from her neck, as he dragged his tongue down the length of it. He nibbled on her ear and said, "I plan on trying all sorts of interesting things with you." He went back to kissing her neck, driving her insane with desire, stopping long enough between kisses to say, "you'll just have to take it."

Olivia was trying to breathe. In and out. In and out. Between his sexy promises and his mouth on her neck, she was about to combust. She panted out, "Do something."

Fitz growled in his throat and instead of holding her hair away from her neck, he grabbed a fistful of it and used it to turn her head to the right. He crushed his lips to hers pushing his tongue further into her mouth. His other hand dropped to her center and he sank two of his slender fingers into her. She tried to keep up with his lips but failed miserably and instead went back to trying to remember how to breathe.

She was making sounds that were a mix of panting, curses, chanting his name, and heavy breathing. Fitz took it all as encouragement to continue his assault on her body. And he did while watching her face with the same fascination her face always gave him when she reached her peak. She screamed loudly and slapped the walls as her body let the delicious wave overtake her.

A few moments later her body went limp and Fitz held onto her as they both slid down to the floor. He pulled her to straddling his lap and her head fell heavily onto his shoulder. She was still panting, still trying to get it under control, when Fitz lifted her up and impaled her with his rock hard length. Olivia gasped for air as he held onto her hips and continued moving her body up and down over his.

She picked up her head and looked into his determined eyes. In between loud moans of pleasure, she asked, "Every day?"

He put his hands on her ass and walked them to the sofa they had been on a few hours earlier, never pulling out of her. Before he laid down on top of her, brought her knee up, and continued a steady pace of thrusting in and out of her Fitz said, "every day!"

Olivia had her leg wrapped around his waist and was clawing his back with her fingernails. He showed no signs of slowing down as he grunted and whispered over and over that he loved her. She could feel her second peak coming but Fitz wouldn't let her wait for him so he dipped his head and sucked on her hardened nipple with great vigor. She almost instantly exploded screaming his name. He watched her face and then he followed her. Dropping like a stone on her little body.

When she could talk again, Olivia pushed his sweaty curls off of his forehead and said, "I think you're trying to kill me."

Fitz lifted his head, picked her up, and set her down on his chest, covering them both up with the thin blanket they had used during movie time and before he fell asleep, muttered, "Best way to go."


	32. Girl Time

Girl Time

"Babe, don't forget that I'm going to be late tonight. Don't worry about dinner. I'll eat something while I'm out." Olivia was putting her earring through her ear as Fitz walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, careful not to wrinkle her dress.

They were both heading out the door in different directions to work. He had forgotten why she would be late and asked her about it. "Why are you going to be late tonight?"

She turned in his arms and pecked his lips. "Because Abby has found THE wedding dress and the girls in the wedding party are going to see her in it. And she claims she has also found the bridesmaids dresses too. I worry about that because, well, it's Abby. And while she dresses nicely every day, she wouldn't think twice about putting us in an ugly fuchsia dress just to make herself look better."

Fitz chuckled and reminded her, "It is her day, Liv. She is supposed to be the one everyone is looking at. Besides, I could get hot and bothered by a fuchsia dress." He wiggled his eyebrows at her until she laughed at him.

"You could get hot and bothered by a potato sack. You're not helping at all." She lightly shoved him away from her. "I can't believe her wedding is just around the corner. Do you think things will change much between us after she marries Stephen?"

"Nah. I mean, you won't be welcome to spend the night at their place much until after the honeymoon phase is over. But other than that, I don't think so. You two have been friends for a really long time. That means something. It's why you're her maid of honor." He kissed her nose and made her feel better.

She wrapped her arms around his neck. "You're good to have around, Mr. Grant. A little big headed, but good to have around."

He settled his hands on her waist. "I've never heard you complain about my big head. It's always been ohmygodFitz! More! Yes!" He mimicked her breathy moaning voice and got a chuckle as well as a slap from her for it.

"I've got to go now you crazy man. I love you." She hugged him close to her and breathed in his scent before it turned into sugar and grease.

"I love you too, babe." Fitz leaned down and his lips swept across hers in a feather light kiss. "Have a good day."

She picked up her purse and started through the front door. She stopped halfway through it and looked back at him. "It's off to a great start already. I'll call you later."

Fitz looked out the window and watched her get into her car and drive away. He only had ten extra minutes before he himself had to leave for work, so he dashed into the spare room. He intentionally danced a little jig on her side of the tape line while sticking out his tongue at her desk. Then he went into his own desk and pulled out the fake bottom in the middle drawer.

Inside the space was a thin locked metal box. Fitz pulled the key out of his jeans pocket and slid it into the slot, opening the top. He went into their bedroom closet and pulled the single envelope with his name on it from inside of an old suit jacket he had hid it in. He brought it to his desk and sat down, to read it again. He made a note on one of Liv's post its and quickly stuck the envelope inside the metal box with the others and re locked it. He placed it back where it was and slid the fake bottom back into place. He had to leave now to be on time for work.

Abby popped her head into her friends office near the end of the day and asked, "Liv? Are you going to ride with me or are you driving to the boutique?"

Olivia was swamped and was trying desperately to get it finished up to follow Abby to the bridal store instead of relying on directions from Siri. Olivia was convinced Siri hated her and intentionally gave her the longest most complicated route on earth. She held up a finger to Abby, indicating to her friend to wait a minute. A few moments later, Olivia looked up at her friend and said, "I'm definitely following you there. How long until you are leaving?"

Abby looked at her watch and replied, "Uhhhh in about thirty minutes. Will that work for you?"

"I'll make it work. I'm so excited to see you in your dress! And I'm curious as to what you have picked out for us to wear too." Olivia grinned at her friend.

"You think I've picked out something hideous don't you?" Abby challenged.

Olivia chuckled at her. "No. Of course not." She recalled the words Fitz had said to her earlier that morning and repeated them to Abby. "It's your big day. Everyone is supposed to be looking at you."

Abby gave Olivia a grateful smile. "Thanks, Liv. I'll swing back by here in a half hour. Do you wanna get a drink afterwards?"

"Most definitely! See you soon." Liv dug back into her paperwork and worked furiously until Abby reappeared ten seconds later.

"It's time, Liv." Abby chirped with her purse on her shoulder.

"There's no way it's been thirty minutes already!" Liv whined.

"Fraid so. Get your ass up and let's go!"

Olivia quickly sorted the papers back into the files they were in when she got them and locked them into a filing cabinet. She grabbed her purse, locked her office, and followed Abby out of the building.

They drove for twenty minutes and came to a stop in front of a cute boutique on a busy street. Olivia parked behind a very giddy Abby and they got out of their cars and walked inside. Abby's mother was already there, as well as Paige, the other bridesmaid who was in the wedding. She was Abby's only female cousin and Abby's mother had pressed the issue of including Paige in the wedding. Abby was not thrilled with the idea but she had Liv standing up with her. And at the end of the day, she would be Stephen's wife. Having to deal with a cousin she wasn't close to for a few weeks was nothing in the grand scheme of things.

The women exchanged hugs and introductions were made to the woman at the boutique who had found the dress for Abby. The redhead disappeared into the back to change into the dress and the women were ushered into a waiting room, where mirrors were on the walls at different angles for the bride to be to take in her appearance once her dress was on.

A short while later, Abby stepped out and everyone sat a little straighter. Olivia had her opinions, but waited to see what Mrs. Wheelan would think. Abby stepped up on the small round platform in front of the mirrors and waited for reactions.

The dress was a curve skimming, strapless gown with a lace overlay that shimmered with delicate sequins. The waist was tulle wrapped and the back had a floral applique. Several covered buttons ran up the back of the dress. It was absolute perfection on Abby.

Paige was the first to speak. "It's really pretty. You look really pretty."

Abby knew that Paige was a woman of few words. And she also knew that of all the people in the room at that moment, Paige's opinion was the last one she cared about. She looked pretty. Abby tried to keep from rolling her eyes as she waited to hear what her mother and Liv thought about it.

"You look absolutely beautiful, baby." Her mother finally whispered. Tears had formed in Abby's mothers eyes and were starting to roll down her cheeks. Mrs. Wheelan laughed giddily and through her tears said, "This is most definitely the one."

Abby hugged her mom and felt a huge sense of relief. "Liv, what do you think?"

Olivia was in awe of her best friend. She looked deliriously happy. And oh so beautiful. Stephen was going to cry, Olivia bet herself. Her best friend was getting married soon! And she had found the perfect dress for her perfect day. "It's perfect in every way! You look exactly the way every bride hopes to look on her wedding day."

"Ohmygod Liv, I'm getting married in this dress!" The two women hugged each other tightly and did a happy dance together. Abby wiped her eyes and said, "Oooh, I almost forgot. I have found the bridesmaids dresses too! If you guys would please go try them on so I can see what I think I would love you forever. They are in the changing rooms over there. Kristen is going to take my dress in here and there so it fits like a glove."

Olivia and Paige walked into the dressing rooms and they each found a red gown hanging up for them to try on. The dress was floor length with a lace bodice. It had a ribbon defined waist and a pretty long slit up the left side. It was beautiful. She chuckled at her thoughts this morning of Abby choosing ugly fuchsia dresses for them to wear in the wedding.

"How's it going over there, Paige?" Olivia asked a few minutes later.

"I love this dress. It's perfect! I wonder if there will be any cute guys at the wedding?" Paige practically sang.

"Look at Fitz and you will get messed up." Olivia muttered. While Paige wasn't known for saying much, everyone knew that Paige was a whore. Except for Abby's mother apparently. Her relationship with Abby was the only reason she was in the wedding. Paige would get her ass beat if she even thought that Fitz was an option.

"Did you say something?" Paige was twirling in a circle in front of the mirrors.

"No. I'm coming out now." Olivia stepped out as Abby walked in to see what they looked like.

"Oh wow! You guys look amazing!" Abby squealed. "I am going to have some beautiful wedding photos."

Olivia held up her iPhone and snapped a picture of the three of them in their dresses. The three women giggled and shared a group hug before going and changing back into their regular clothes. Paige was a little short on money but Abby wasn't taking a chance of not getting this dress, so she paid for it herself and told Paige she could pay her back before the wedding. Olivia bought her dress and took it out to her car in its new zippered bag.

By this time all of the women had congregated outside of the boutique and goodbye hugs were given and Mrs. Wheelan and Paige drove off for home. "Are you ready to get a drink with me? And some dinner? I'm starving!" Abby stated.

"Yes to both of those things. You drive and I will follow you there. I'm going to send a text to Fitz before we leave so give me a minute." Olivia got into her car and sent him a message:

 _I have my dress & it's not fuchsia! Going to dinner with Abs. Be home soon. Love you!_

Across town, in his very busy bakery, Fitz heard his phone chime letting him know he had received a text. He didn't have time to read it right now. He was shorthanded and the place was full of people. He didn't know what made them come out in droves on a Thursday night, but neither did he question it. Business was good!

He filled orders as fast as he could with the help of the two people he had on staff that afternoon. They were barely keeping up with the crowd though and he wondered if he should add another person to the evening shift? It was a question for another time and he shut the thought down in an effort to serve the line of people waiting to be helped.

"Who do you have to know around here to get some service?" A deep voice angrily growled.

Fitz, who was beyond exhausted and whose patience was wearing thin, plastered on a fake smile and looked up at the aggravated customer. He instantly ran around the counter and grabbed the man in a tight embrace as they both began laughing. "Thad! What are you doing here? I'm so glad to see you!"

People were watching them and getting annoyed that the employee was having a personal moment instead of serving them. "Look, let me get this line taken care of and we'll catch up! You can go in the back and sit in my office if you want. I'll be back there as quick as I can."

"Take your time. I'm not going anywhere." Thad replied with a huge grin.

Fitz had found a second wind. He and his staff eagerly assisted every person in line and afterwards he walked the dining area to make sure everyone had everything they needed. Everyone was happy. The line was gone. He had a small conversation with the kid working the counter, telling him to come and get him if they needed him.

He made his way back to his office, where he found Thad looking at the things hanging on the walls and the decorations. He turned when he saw Fitz and said, "What the hell is this?" Thad pointed at the pink fuzzy hockey stick with a look of serious concern on his face.

Fitz laughed at the memory of getting it at the bowling alley with the game tickets Olivia had given him. "It's a long story. How long are you in town for?"

"I've been here for twenty minutes and you're already trying to get rid of your little brother? I'm wounded." Thad clutched his heart dramatically.

"Shut up," Fitz chuckled.

"Can't a guy just come to visit his big brother?" Thad batted his eyelashes at Fitz.

Fitz crossed his arms. "No."

"Robin and I brought the kids for a mini vacation. Dad having a stroke freaked me out! I hated that I wasn't closer when it happened, but this was the quickest we could get here. We'll probably stay for a week or so."

Fitz grinned at his brother and got a mirror image of it in return. "Where are the four of you going to stay?"

Thad slung his arm around affectionately around his older brother's neck. "We were hoping you would chase away your disgusting friends long enough to put us up at your place?"

"That would be difficult to do little brother."

"Why? Have they squatted in your house permanently? Hell, I'll chase them out myself!"

"Don't you ever call your mother, you asshole? That woman thrives on gossip. I can't believe she hasn't already told you. I don't own my house anymore." This conversation was about to get interesting.

Thad looked at his brother in all seriousness. "You lost the house Aunt Betty gave you? How the hell did you do that? It was paid for, you dick! Did you lose it in a poker game?"

"I sold it." Fitz plainly stated.

"Why would you sell that house?" Thad asked incredulously as he started pacing around the room. "Where do you live? Here?"

Fitz grinned like an idiot. "I moved in with my girlfriend."

"Oh. My. God. Fitz has a girlfriend and he's moved in with her! I bet mom is as happy as a pig in shit!" Thad stopped pacing and pointed a finger in stern warning to his older brother. "And if you ever tell her I compared her to a pig in shit, I will make your life a living hell."

"What are you gonna do? Move here?" Fitz chuckled.

"I'll tell mom who really broke that French sofa she loved so much. And how." Thad shot his brother an evil grin and dared him to say a word.

The less handsome Grant had his older brother by the short hairs. Fitz still did not want his mother to know that he and Shelly Vaughn had broken that beloved sofa during a very energetic round of sex when he was seventeen. Telling Thad about it after the fact had been a mistake. Fitz silently flipped him the bird instead.

"When do I get to meet your girlfriend? And what's her name, by the way? I don't want to come off as an idiot when I meet her." Thad said.

"I'll introduce you to Olivia tomorrow. After I've warned her about you. And don't worry about the idiot thing. That comes naturally to you." Fitz grabbed his brother in another hug. "It's really good to see you, Thad. I'm glad you and the family are here. It's been too long." Fitz stopped walking and asked, "Where is your family right now?"

"At mom and dads, visiting. Looks like we'll be staying with them. Or getting a hotel in the city."

"You left your family at mom and dads? By themselves?" Fitz opened the door to his office and the two men walked out to the bakery dining area. He flipped the sign to read closed from the street and told the few people still eating to take their time finishing up. He was closing earlier than usual tonight but no one was going to be rushed out.

And then he remembered that he had gotten a text earlier. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and saw the message from Olivia. He grinned as he read her message and typed a reply.

 _Whew! Can't wait to see the dress. I'll be home as soon as I can. Big news! I love you_

He closed the text message and found Thad standing over his shoulder, reading what he had sent. "Let me see a picture of Olivia. I know you have one in there somewhere." Fitz obliged him, opening up his photos and opened the last one on the camera roll. It was one he had taken that morning right before she woke up. She looked peaceful and perfect. Thad grabbed the phone. "You are living with HER? Does she know how big of an asshole you are? She could do so much better than you."

Fitz grinned. "She knows and somehow she loves me anyways." Fitz looked around the dining area and noticed that all of the patrons had left. He thanked his staff for a great night and told them as soon as everything was cleaned up, they could go. Forty minutes later, Fitz grabbed two boxes from the counter and they all walked out together.

"Sooooo, you're just gonna drop me of at mom and dads and then go home and get cozy with Olivia?"

"Yea, pretty much." Fitz chuckled. "It's been a long ass day and it's nice to know my girl is there for me to get cozy with."

"What are you gonna tell her about me?" Thad inquired as they drove toward their parents house.

"That you are an asshole. That you're younger than me. Less handsome than me. And nowhere near as funny as me." Thad laughed at his older brother's description of him. "Let's all get together and go to lunch tomorrow night. Maybe at a kid friendly place so your kids won't lose their minds trying to be proper at the table. Somewhere where they have games and shit."

"Like Chuck E. Cheese? Have you lost your damn mind, Fitz? That place is a zoo! There are four million kids of all ages constantly running around every square inch of that place no matter what time of day you go into one. Can't we be adults and have grown up food?" Thad knew he was whining and hoped Fitz was paying attention.

"Dude! You're the one with kids! Don't be such an ass. They don't want to sit in a fancy restaurant for lunch any more than you want to eat at Chuck E. Cheeses. It'll be fun!" Fitz was excited. He had had his share of nice restaurants lately. A kid friendly place would be a nice change of pace for him.

"No, it won't be fun. It'll be a damn nightmare! We eat there like once a month. That place is a germ infested rat hole. Literally." The two men started laughing at the stupid pun. Thad more than Fitz.

"I'll tell you what. We all go out to the rat hole tomorrow, and afterwards me and Liv will keep the kids overnight so you and Robin can go out like grown-ups. You can even get a hotel in the city. Huh?" Fitz wiggled his eyebrows repeatedly. "Robin might jump your bones! What do you say?"

Thad laughed at his brother. "A night out with my woman would be nice. Especially an overnight in the big city without the kids. Don't you want to talk to Olivia about it first? What if she isn't interested in keeping your nieces overnight?"

Fitz grinned at his brother. "Actually, Liv owes your kids an overnight."

"How the hell do you figure that one?"

"Because a while back she was pretty sick. She wasn't eating or drinking and was running a high fever." The men had arrived at their parents house and were sitting in the yard talking. "I was reminded that the two of you put the girls in a lukewarm tub to help break their fever when they are sick. I did it to Liv and it worked."

Thad started laughing uncontrollably in the passenger seat. "My daughters hate that shit man. They get all whiney and cry. I bet Olivia wanted to cut your balls off for doing it to her?"

"The difference is I got in the tub with her. It worked though!" Fitz recalled. "After the whining and crying. She started to feel better and then probably wanted to cut my balls off for doing it. But I think she likes them too much to do that."

"You really love her don't you?" The look on his brothers face when he relayed the story didn't go unnoticed by Thad. His brother was happy and in love. He was happy for him.

"I really do. She is everything to me. I can't imagine life without her." Fitz looked up and saw two faces looking out the window at them. "I know you want to go in and go to bed, but I need to go get some hugs and kisses from my love bugs." Fitz grabbed the bakery boxes, jumped out of the car, and jogged to the front door.

"FITZ!" Thad yelled. "You're just gonna get them all wound up before bedtime!" Thad rolled his eyes and followed his brother into the house hearing loud squeals of delight coming from his youngest daughter.

"Daddy! Have you seen Meggy Bear? I can't find her." Fitz asked Thad. He was on his hands and knees crawling around the floor in search of his niece as she rode on his back giggling and screeching while keeping a death grip on the collar of his shirt.

He looked under the couch and behind the chair before the three year old leaned over his shoulder, looked into his blue eyes, grinned at him, and announced, "I'm wite here."

Fitz gently pulled her over his shoulder and put kisses on her face. She was a beautiful little girl with long straight brown hair and big brown eyes. He put her on her feet in front of him and said, "Meggy Bear! Who let you get so big?"

The small child shrugged her small shoulders and honestly replied, "I munnunno?"

Fitz chuckled at her kids speak for 'I don't know' and hugged her close to him. She wrapped her pudgy little arms around his neck and squeezed him tight. He whispered something in her ear and she pulled away from him, grinned really big, and happily nodded. He pointed at his cheek and she smooshed her lips to it, giving him a kiss. Fitz picked her up and carried her to the front door. He opened one of the boxes he left there when he came in and she picked out a pretty pink cupcake. He set her down and she ran off to show it to her mommy. Looking up at his own mother, Fitz said, "There's a dozen donuts in the other box just for you."

A much quieter six year old watched the craziness unfold in the living room between her sister and her uncle. She had smiled while watching them, but didn't join in the fun. It didn't go unnoticed by her uncle, but Fitz was determined to win her heart all over again. Just like he had to do every time he saw her. He sat on the floor with the box Megan had picked her cupcake out of. "I wish I knew who to give this last pretty cupcake to? If only there was someone here who wanted it."

Emma and Thomas sat on the couch and watched their buffoon of a son play the part of the perfect uncle. They knew he loved his nieces and truly enjoyed spending time with them. They were grinning as the watched Elizabeth slowly and quietly make her way away from her mother and towards Fitz. Robin was sitting on Thad's lap in a chair watching. Megan was on their lap, happily eating the sweet treat her uncle had given her.

Elizabeth was still a few feet away from Fitz and everyone was busy chatting amongst themselves. Fitz looked up at Elizabeth and smiled at her. She smiled back at him and took another step closer. Curiosity was getting the better of her. Fitz crooked his finger at her, beckoning her to come closer. "Uncle Fitz needs to tell you a something, Lizbeth."

The six year old kept walking closer until she was standing beside him and peered down into the box. Fitz said, "Can I tell you a secret?"

Elizabeth looked up at her mother. Robin calmly replied, "It's ok honey. Uncle Fitz has the best secrets. Right, Meg?" The three year old's eyes grew big. She nodded her head repeatedly with pink cake frosting smeared all over her face.

Elizabeth must have decided it was worth the risk. She leaned her ear in his direction, keeping her eyes on her mom. Fitz cupped her ear and whispered, "I have a cupcake for the quietest person in the house. Do you know who that is? I can't figure it out."

The little girl pulled away from him and gave him her biggest smile. She closed the gap between them and put one hand on his shoulder and the other one on her cheek. She loudly whispered into his ear, "It's me."

He turned back to her ear, moving the shoulder length blonde curls out of the way and quietly said, "Who are you though?"

This time she didn't whisper. She flung her arms around his shoulders, giggled, and said, "Uncle Fitz! It's Lizbeth!" He held her close for a moment and enjoyed the not so free hug she offered. He had missed the girls more than he realized and was grateful they were here once again. He set her on his lap and she picked up the purple cupcake and began happily eating it.

He couldn't wait until they were with him and Liv tomorrow night.


	33. Fun and Games

**To the guest reviewer who told me about African American's faces not turning beet red, and about women wrapping their hair, thank you! I didn't didn't know that so I appreciate you telling me. That kind of information, as well as the kind way you explained it is always welcomed. I apologize & will try to do better in future chapters :)**

Fun and Games

The next afternoon Emma and Thomas rounded up everyone at their house and met Fitz and Olivia at the Chuck E. Cheese fifteen minutes from their house. It was packed, just as Thad had warned it would be. While Thad and Robin, with the help of his parents, went in and secured a table with the girls, Fitz and Olivia sat in his car talking.

"What if they don't like me, Fitz? Kids can tell when someone is uncomfortable around kids. I have zero experience with them. They are gonna know that." Olivia was nervous about having the girls spend the night with them. "We don't even have anywhere for them to sleep."

"Babe, it's going to be fine. We can pull out the couch and make it up for them. Kids can literally sleep anywhere. And don't worry about them not liking you. They are gonna love you. They really are fun little girls." He held her hand trying to show her that he understood her worries, while explaining that there was nothing to worry about.

"What if one of them gets hurt while they are with us? Or gets sick? What are we supposed to do?" She wasn't really worried about those things, because she basically knew what to do. But she was truly scared that his nieces wouldn't like her. She was throwing up roadblocks in an effort to get out of the situation.

"Look, I know you are nervous. Especially since you've never really been around little kids. But I only get to see my nieces a handful of times a year, if I'm lucky. I would never ask you to do something you didn't want to do, but I promise they are going to love you. Besides, their parents could use a kid free night too. Her parents live pretty far away from them so they don't get much help with the girls to have a date night. Come on, Liv. It'll be an adventure!" He gave her his best smile.

"What if they hate me?" She practically whispered.

Fitz leaned over and held her tight. "They are not going to hate you. You are amazing. That's all they will see. I promise."

"Ok. We can do this. It's one night." She pulled out of his embrace and pecked his lips. "I love you."

"I love you. Let's go." Fitz walked around and opened her door and held her hand as they walked into mayhem. Liv's eyes were wide as saucers at the amount of kids contained in one place. So. Many. Kids! Fitz caught her deer in headlights look and chuckled at her. "We're only taking home two. Not all of them." Olivia relaxed at his reminder.

After lunch Fitz picked up Megan while Thad threw Elizabeth over his shoulder, as she giggled, and the four of them headed off to the games. Competition ran deep in all the Grants apparently. They played skee ball, where Fitz held Megan close to the little circles and let her throw the hard ball into whichever hole she could get it into. They threw basketballs as fast as they could into a net. Thad picked up Elizabeth so she could stand on the display and be closer to the net as her daddy handed her balls as fast as she could throw them. They played a huge game of Operation, and of course Fitz and Thad bumped each other's elbows, intentionally making them lose. The girls each had a fistful of tickets to go and buy random plastic junk with, but both wanted to go back to the table to get a drink first.

The men had alternate plans anyways. They left the kids with the grandparents and headed off to kick each other's ass in the games intended for kids. The women followed after them. Thad and Fitz were ridiculous with competition. Just as Thad was releasing the ball in his skee ball game, Fitz hurriedly said, "Mom saw you naked in the shower this morning!"

Thad released the ball as he turned his head sharply at Fitz, causing it to hit the ceiling. "What the..." Thad looked around, thankful he hadn't said the curse word out loud in a room full of kids and their parents. Fitz, who had kept his eye on the ball the entire time in case something like this happened, caught it on its way down from the ceiling and then threw it in the gutter. Thad narrowed his eyes at his brother, who was doubled over in laughter.

"That was the funniest thing I've ever seen!" Tears were in Fitz's blue eyes and every time he looked at his brother he started laughing all over again.

"That was a good one, Fitz." Robin was laughing with him.

Olivia chuckled too but chastised him for causing Thad to throw the ball wildly. "That could have hurt one of the kids."

When the two men went to shoot hoops, Thad stood behind Fitz. He had gotten into a comfortable rhythm of picking the balls up and throwing them over his head. Just as he picked up one of the balls and raised his arms to release it, Thad pulled his brothers shirt up to his neck. Fitz tripped and fell on his ass, and that's when Thad took a picture with his phone. Again, the two women were caught between laughing and chastising the two idiots. They eventually walked back to the people free table to talk. Olivia wanted to get to know Robin a little better anyway.

"Are you ok with the girls spending the night with you two? I know you just recently moved in together. We'd understand if you don't want to deal with the trouble of two little girls in your happy bubble just yet." Robin smiled at Olivia, remembering when she and Thad had been child free. It was quieter then, but life was better now. She knew Olivia probably didn't understand that yet.

Olivia felt like Robin was offering them an out from this situation. But as she glanced over at Fitz, who had found his way back to the girls and was helping them pick out their prizes, she knew he needed this time with them. And she wanted to get to know them too. "Oh no. We are happy to have them over tonight. Fitz is really excited about it. He mentioned blanket forts, movies, and popcorn."

"Are you sure? If I may be blunt, you seem a little nervous about it?" Robin asked with a smile.

Olivia did not want Robin to think she couldn't deal with her two small kids overnight. But neither did she want to lie to her. "I'm an only child. So I've never really been around babies and little kids. I honestly don't have any experience with it. I am kind of nervous honestly. I don't know what to do if they miss you. Or get hurt. Or don't like me."

Robin put her hand on Olivia's knee for reassurance. "I was you until seven years ago when I got pregnant with Elizabeth. I'm an only child too. Never was around a lot of babies. Wasn't really my thing to be honest." When Olivia's eyes grew wide, Robin knew she had hit the mark.

"I'm not saying it's not my thing. It's just not my thing right now. I'm really happy with the way things are with Fitz and I. And because I don't know anything about babies and kids, I worry about if I'll be any good at it. You know what I mean?" This was the conversation she wanted to have with Fitz, but was worried that it would scare him off. That her fears would be too big and would make him end their relationship and go elsewhere.

"Olivia. Give yourself some credit. You're in a Chuck E. Cheese on a Saturday afternoon. It doesn't get much braver than that." The two women chuckled together and Olivia relaxed some. "You're not going to get over your fears overnight. But you also don't want to end up suddenly pregnant and have to face them with only nine months of warning either. Besides, it's different when they are your kids.

It's tougher when they are babies. They can't tell you what they need. So they communicate the only way they know how. By crying. Sometimes it's nerve racking. But it's also really rewarding. Now that mine are older, it's a little easier. They can tell you where the boo boo is. Or that they are scared. Or have to go to the bathroom. And they can tell you that they love you. And your heart melts into teeny tiny pieces every single time."

"So how did you figure out the mommy thing? You are so good with them. And they adore you. You don't seem like someone who was in my shoes just a few years ago. I don't expect them to love me. But it would be nice if they liked me a little bit." Olivia admitted.

Robin smiled at her new friend. "Kids see through the bullshit. They know if you're making an effort and when you're just going through the motions. They are pretty accepting little people. Give them a chance to figure you out. You don't have to put on pretenses with them. Just be yourself. They are gonna like you because you are a good person and are good to their uncle Fitz. And that man can do no wrong in their eyes. Besides, you'd be amazed at how much of it just comes naturally."

It was at that moment that Fitz and Thad walked up to the table each with a small girl on their shoulders, carrying their prizes with happy grins. "Momma, look what we got!" Elizabeth said excitedly from Fitz's shoulder. She thrust her yellow smiley face pillow towards her mom, along with the little goodies she had picked out with her tickets.

"That's my smart girl. You can use that pillow tonight when you spend the night with uncle Fitz and aunt Olivia." Robin encouraged.

Elizabeth looked over at Olivia and looked unsure about that idea. Olivia smiled at her encouragingly and nodded. She stepped in front of Fitz, to talk to the little girl. "Your uncle Fitz is going to make a blanket fort later. And we are going to eat popcorn and watch a movie in it. Does that sound ok?"

Megan cheered loudly from her daddy's shoulders. She was easy to win over.

Olivia heard Fitz whisper to her, "That's my girl."

Elizabeth studied Olivia's face solemnly for a moment and then broke out into a small smile. "He doesn't make them very good, so you're gonna have to help."

"What? Are you telling Olivia stories about me?" Fitz pulled the girl from his shoulders and held her in one arm while he tickled her.

Elizabeth laughed loudly while telling him to stop it! She reached her skinny arms out to Olivia amongst the laughter in hopes of being rescued. Olivia didn't hesitate, and plucked the girl out of Fitz's arms and stepped away from him. She wondered where that idea came from and why she did it in the first place?

Olivia walked over to the next table and sat down holding Elizabeth on her lap. The little girl looked at her rescuer with serious eyes. "Uncle Fitz always tickles me."

Robins words came back to Olivia. Kids can see through the bullshit.

"He tickles me too." Olivia told the girl. The two females looked over at him, who was watching them like a hawk, waiting to rescue Olivia if she needed it.

"He does? Why?" Elizabeth inquired.

"Probably because he likes to see us smile. And if you think about it, whenever someone is being tickled, even if they don't like it they are smiling and laughing. I think we should tickle him the next time he does it. Whaddya say?" Olivia ask conspiratorially.

Elizabeth nodded her head and giggled, covering her mouth. She leaned her head on Olivia's shoulder and wrapped her arms around her neck, giving her a hug. "Thank you for saving me, Olivia."

Olivia felt that heart melting feeling Robin had mentioned and held the little girl close to her. "You're welcome, sweetie. Us girls gotta stick together tonight."

Everyone at their table watched the two females having a moment together. Everyone made little comments to each other, except Fitz. He didn't know how to explain it, but something had shifted as he watched them. He was pretty sure Olivia was experiencing a similar feeling too. She didn't even know it, but Olivia was a natural with Elizabeth. And she was the harder of the two of them to win over. Things went through Fitz's mind as he continued to watch them sit and talk. He could picture them with a little girl of their own. Or boy. He was in no rush for it, but he couldn't wait for it either.

"Ok, you two. If you're done plotting, we need to go home and get that fort built. I guess Olivia can help. But just a little bit." Fitz announced. He pulled Megan from her daddy's arms and snuggled her close. Olivia stood up with Elizabeth in her arms and walked to his side. Olivia caught Robin send her a smile as Fitz held her close to him and kiss her temple. She smiled back. "We need to go get all your girly stuff from the car. I hope you two lady bugs didn't pack too much perfume and shoes!"

"Uncle Fitz!" Elizabeth giggled. Fitz kissed her cheek and the four of them went out to get the girls overnight bags. After they were buckled into their seats and kisses were given to their parents and grandparents, the four of them headed home.

Once they got to the house and the girls were unbuckled, Elizabeth wanted Olivia to hold her. Which was just fine with Olivia. Fitz was left behind to pick up Megan and the girls bags. Olivia unlocked the house and they walked in together. "Your house is pretty, Olivia." Elizabeth said as she squirmed to get down and walk around.

"It's my house too, squirt." Fitz reminded her. He set the two small overnight bags near the door and asked, "Do you ladies want me to set your bed up outside near the trash can or by the racoons house in the backyard?"

Olivia shot him a hateful glare, and was about to say something to him, but Megan beat him to it. "Rack oons." She decided.

Fitz and Olivia laughed at her but her sister put her hand on her hip and informed him, "Girls sleep in the house, silly. You can't make a blanket fort outside."

"You're right. I forgot. I guess we'll just eat dinner out there instead." He joked.

Lizabeth laughed at him. "Nooooo Uncle Fitz. We eat in the house."

"Ok. We'll be boring and eat in the house." He conceded. "Let me show you two around the house so you know where everything is."

Fitz had three females following him as he showed their small guests where the bathroom was. And his and Olivia's room. And the living room. And on and on. As they walked past the spare room, Elizabeth yawned and asked, "Why is there a blue line on the floor in there?"

Olivia jumped at the opportunity before her smart mouth partner commented. "That blue line is there because uncle Fitz has boy germs and he has to stay on his side of the room."

Elizabeth thought about her answer and asked in a serious tone, "Then why come theres no blue lines in all of the rooms?"

Fitz chuckled at his niece's logic and kept as quiet as the grave waiting to hear Olivia explain that one to a six year old. "That is a really good question, Elizabeth. Maybe we should put down lines in all of the rooms so he doesn't get his boy germs on us." She shot Fitz a smirk as the two girls giggled and cheered.

Megan squirmed out of Fitz's arms and walked to Olivia and held her arms up, wanting to be picked up. "Meggy Bear! Where are you goin'?" Fitz whined.

Once Olivia had figured out how to hold both girls successfully in her arms, Megan looked at Fitz and said, "Boy germs. Yuck." And leaned her head on Olivia's shoulder. Olivia stuck her tongue out at Fitz quickly and the three of them walked away to the master bedroom, leaving Fitz alone in the hallway.

"Would you ladies like to lay on my big bed? I would like to tell you a story," Olivia said with exaggerated enthusiasm. She could tell the girls needed a nap and she wouldn't argue with taking one either.

The three of them got cozy and settled under the blankets, one girl on each side of her, as she started her story. "Once upon a time there was a girl named...uhh...Danielle. And Danielle lived a big ole house all by herself. One day Danielle met a boy named Alexander. He was very handsome and sweet. He invited Danielle to a ball and then disappeared. She didn't know how to find him. But Alexander had a plan the whole time."

Elizabeth yawned and snuggled closer to Olivia. "This sounds like a good story, aunt Olivia." She said sleepily.

"It's the very best story, Lizabeth." Olivia replied. She turned to see that Megan was already breathing heavy and completely knocked out. She continued the story for Lizabeth. "One day Alexander delivered some flowers to Danielle's office at work with a note that said, 'Please find me. I want to go to the ball with you in two days.' Danielle didn't know how to find Alexander..."

By this time, Fitz and his boy germs had belly crawled into their bedroom and was currently laying on the floor at the foot of their bed, listening to Olivia's story. He couldn't keep the grin off his face.

"...So Danielle's friend Connor helped her find out where Alexander worked. Danielle went to go see Alexander the next day. She was very nervous about it but she just knew that she had to find him..."

"So they could fall in love and live happily ever after?" Lizabeth interrupted with half open eyes.

Fitz peeked his head up over the end of the bed and met Olivia's eyes with a smile and a wink.

"Exactly, Lizabeth." Both girls were sleeping now with their heads resting in the crooks of Olivia's arms. "For forever and ever." She smiled back at Fitz and mouthed the words 'come here' to him.

Fitz stood up and got under the blankets with the three females. He pulled Megan to laying on his chest and started patting her back. He put his arm under Olivia's head and kissed it. "You are amazing and I love you so much."

She pecked his lips and replied, "I love you too, babe. I really need a nap though."

Just before Fitz fell asleep, he thought, not for the last time that weekend, he could picture his life like this with Olivia and be completely fulfilled with it.

An hour later, one by one, the four of them woke up in the big bed. Since Olivia and Fitz woke up first, they shared a few minutes of kisses and cuddles before the girls opened their eyes. But when they did finally wake up, Elizabeth informed everyone, "Uncle Fitz is getting boy germs in the bed!"

Fitz leaned over Olivia and picked up his niece. "And now I'm getting boy germs on YOU!" And he started tickling her. The little girl shrieked and laughed until he stopped to let her catch her breath.

When she had calmed down, she looked at Olivia and said, "Now we can do it back?" When Olivia eagerly nodded to the blonde haired cutie, the two ganged up on Fitz, tickling him on his sides and belly.

Fitz was not ticklish, but he knew he had to play the part of the tickle victim to the girls. So he laughed and repeatedly asked them to stop as they continued tickling him. He purposefully grazed Olivia's boob with his hand amid the chaos, and watched her eyes grow wide and she mouthed 'stop it' to him. He begged his Meggy Bear to help him, but she went to the dark side and joined the girls.

A few minutes later, Olivia dusted her hands together and said, "I think we showed him we're the winner." Fitz chuckled in the middle of the completely messed up bed.

Megan repeated, "We da winna."

"Liv, you cannot turn my lady bugs against me!" He got off the bed, picked Megan up, and threw her over his shoulder as she cackled. "Lizabeth, who is the best uncle Fitz in the world?"

She ran and jumped into his open arms, kissed his cheek, and said, "You are!"

Fitz gave Liv a satisfied smirk right before he walked out the bedroom door and said, "You know it!"

They watched Fitz build a huge blanket fort, with only a little help from Olivia. The put the few stuffed animals they had brought with them in it along with the small round pillows they had won at the pizza place earlier. Olivia was grateful they had brought the blankets found inside Fitz's house over when he moved in. She grabbed them from the closet and laid them on top of each other on the floor in the fort. The girls were happy.

Fitz cooked spaghetti for dinner while the girls played with the puzzles he had bought at the store earlier that morning. After dinner Fitz and Olivia gave the girls a bubble bath, got them into their jammies, brushed their teeth, and they called their parents to tell them goodnight. Robin answered on the second ring and Fitz gave the phone to Elizabeth.

"Hello, momma!" She chirped.

"Hi pumpkin. Are you having fun with uncle Fitz and aunt Olivia?" She asked. "What have you been doing today?"

"It's berry fun here, momma. We took a nap, made a blanket fort, ate pasketti, took a bath, and when we hang up the phone we are going to watch a movie together." She explained in great detail.

"That does sound like fun. Are you being good?"

"Yup. Did you know uncle Fitz has boy germs?" She asked her mother in all seriousness.

Robin could hear Olivia's laughter in the background and chuckled herself. "Everyone knows that. Even Nanna and Pops."

"But Daddy and Pops don't have boy germs?" She inquired.

"No, baby. Only uncle Fitz. But you can't catch them." Thad was laughing in the background now and he fist pumped the air because his wife was so creative and awesome.

"That's good, momma because uncle Fitz is very nice." Uncle Fitz chose that moment to kiss his niece on the cheek in thanks.

"You be a good girl tonight and I'll see you tomorrow. Daddy and I love you big girl."

"I love you too, momma."

"Let me talk to your sister now please." Robin said

Elizabeth gave the phone to Megan who held it to her ear and was silent until she smiled really big, looked at Olivia, and stated, "Mommy!" The two of them spoke for a minute until Megan got bored with it and started opening up apps on her uncle's phone.

Olivia intervened and closed the YouTube app that was playing a commercial for a car. She wondered how the small girl had figured out how to open it and play something. Megan walked off and Olivia put the phone to her ear, hearing Robin say 'I love you'. "She lost interest. I can get her back if you want?"

"That's ok, Olivia. Thank you for letting them stay with the two of you tonight. It's been a while since we have been out without the girls. I almost forgot what uninterrupted adult conversation with my husband was like."

"Go enjoy your evening. They are fine with us. We'll see you tomorrow at Emma's." The call was ended and it was quiet in the house. Too quiet. Olivia looked around but didn't see anyone. She had a moment of panic until she realized they were with Fitz, doing god only knew what. She tip toed into the living room and heard giggling coming from the blanket fort in the middle of the room. Olivia smiled and went to the side of it and peered in.

Fitz was laying barefoot in the middle of the fort floor with his hands under his head. The girls were painting his toenails with pink polish that Olivia recognized as hers. She was very surprised that her first reaction wasn't anger, or shock, or even worry for the mess they were making on the blanket under them. She thought it was the cutest thing she had ever seen. This manly man was letting two small girls paint his toenails and the surrounding skin of them pink. She lifted her phone and silently took a picture. She snuck back to her bedroom and put on her own pajamas and rejoined the fun.

Two hours later, Olivia and Fitz had two sleeping girls on them. The blanket fort had been long forgotten, and while the movie played the four of them had gotten up on the opened couch and covered up with a few of the blankets from the fort. Fitz grabbed the remote and turned the DVD player and television off. He looked at Olivia and said, "Babe, we gotta put them to bed. Can you stand up while I fix the sofa? Then we can lay them down."

"Let's all sleep together in our bed. It'll be fun." She offered.

"Fun to you is sleeping on the edge of the bed while these two monsters take up the rest of the space?" He asked humorlessly.

"Babe, it can't be that bad. And don't call our lady bugs monsters." She chided.

Fitz scowled at her but was grinning on the inside. She had found that maternal side that he knew was always in there. "They are not OUR lady bugs. They're MINE."

"If you're gonna be like that, make damn sure your toenails are dry before you and your boy germs get into OUR bed." She stood up with Elizabeth in her arms and went into their bedroom.

Shit. She knew about the toenails. He'd never hear the end of it, he thought as he carried Megan to their bed.


	34. Male Pride

**There may not be an update posted on Monday. I will be out of town this weekend and might not have time to write something before then. I will do my best to get another chapter hammered out though. I know I say this all the time, but THANK YOU for reading my ridiculous imagination. You guys keep me smiling everyday, and make me want to be a better writer for you. Thank you for the encouragement. It truly means the world to me!**

Male Pride

The following morning Olivia opened her eyes a crack and looked around. Where the hell was she? She blinked her tired eyes repeatedly in an effort to gain her bearings. She looked around. Was she...on the floor? She was on the floor! How the hell did that happen? She looked beside her and saw a tiny arm hanging over the edge of the bed.

She stood up and focused on what she was seeing in the early morning hour. There was Megan and Lizbeth fast asleep and spread out in the middle of the bed as if their job was to cover as much space on it as humanly possible. They were tangled up in the sheets and blanket and their bodies were bent at scary angles. Their mouths were halfway open and they were breathing heavily, in deep blissful sleep. Olivia was jealous. She felt like she had slept for fifteen minutes.

And then there was Fitz. She stifled a chuckle by putting her hands over her mouth as she wondered how he was asleep like that? He was laying on his stomach on the very edge of the bed. Teetering on it actually. He had Megan's foot embedded deep into his side and Lizbeth had her palm smooshed against his nose. It was the most uncomfortable yet adorable looking thing she had ever seen. She was thankful that she had fallen, or maybe been pushed off the bed instead of having to deal with that craziness.

She quietly walked into the bathroom to relieve herself and brush her teeth. When she came out Fitz opened his eyes and looked at her. He started the process of untangling himself from the mayhem the girls had wrapped him up in with their bodies. He stood up and stretched his body. "Those two small people caused big pains in my back."

Olivia smiled at him and stepped into him for a hug, rubbing his back in soothing circles. "After they go home we'll take a bath together to get the kinks out." She offered.

"Mmmm. That will get the kinks out of my back, but what about the kinks l have somewhere else." At her grin he whispered, "Let's go get some coffee while it's still quiet."

An hour later the two small bed hogs woke up and ran out to the living room together. They found Fitz and Olivia in the kitchen making pancakes. They had a big plate with them stacked high on it. The syrup was on the counter along with two plastic plates and cups. None of this was missed by the girls sharp eyes.

"Yay! Pancakes!" Elizabeth said excitedly.

"Yay!" Megan mimicked.

Fitz scooped Megan up and set her down in one of the chairs at the table and pushed her up close to it. Elizabeth followed him and sat down beside her sister. Olivia brought the plate of pancakes to the table and set it down in the middle of it. She speared one, put it on Megan's plate, and started cutting it up for her. Megan pointed to the syrup and Olivia poured some. Fitz did the same for Elizabeth. Juice was poured and then then the adults fixed their own plates. It all felt very normal somehow to Olivia.

As the females ate, Fitz said, "How about after breakfast we all get dressed and go to the park? We can feed the ducks, ride the train, and play on the playground? Then we can go to Nana and Pops house for lunch. Does that sound like fun?"

Both girls cheered and said "Yay" together while chewing their food. Fitz and Olivia shared a smile, congratulating themselves on their great morning plan.

All of the girls stuff was packed into their bags. A second and third check of the house was made to ensure that nothing was left behind. Fitz picked up the blanket fort that had lasted fifteen minutes the night before and then loaded their bags into his car while Olivia put the girls shoes on their feet and put their hair up. Both girls wanted a ponytail and then convinced Olivia to put her hair up into one as well.

Everyone got out of the car a short while later and each adult held a small hand in their own as the four of them walked into the park. Both girls wanted to ride on the train first and were talking excitedly about it. Who was Fitz to say no? He bought tickets for them and they got into a little car on the train. The ride only lasted about five minutes but the girls enjoyed it and begged Fitz for a second ride before they left.

From the train the four of them walked down to the little lake. It was a warm morning and the ducks were out. As they approached the lake, the ducks targeted in on the loaf of stale bread Olivia had in her hand. They started swimming closer to the shore. Olivia pulled out a piece of bread, broke it into little pieces, and handed it to the girls. No instructions were needed as the girls threw the bread as quickly as it was placed into their little hands.

Tickled giggles spewed from their mouths as they watched the birds clamor for the bread. The girls couldn't throw it very far and the ducks figured that out and came closer. Elizabeth and Megan started the interesting task of naming them. "That one is Georgie. He's the daddy." Elizabeth explained. They watched as Georgie tried to nab every tiny piece that was thrown.

"He should be called Greedy," Fitz teased.

"Dat one is Pancake." Megan said laughing. Fitz and Olivia couldn't decide which made them laugh more. The duck's name or Megan's cute giggle.

Once the bread was gone, so was the sisters enchantment with the ducks. The small gang wandered over to the playground where the girls slid down the plastic slide too many times to count. They were pushed in swings until their competitive cries for 'higher' were safely met. And they crawled over, under, and through a plastic jungle gym.

They were sweaty and began whining for something to drink. Fitz put Elizabeth up on his shoulders while Olivia carried Megan as they went in search for something cold to drink. They found a little concession stand and Fitz got the girls each a juice box and a water each for him and Liv. They emptied their drinks as they walked back to the train. The ride seemed shorter the second time around and before Fitz or Olivia knew it, they were getting off the ride and walking towards the car. The girls were buckled up and Fitz drove in the direction of his parent's house.

Five minutes into the drive there was complete silence in the back seat. Olivia looked over her shoulder and told Fitz they were asleep. "That was really fun." She told him.

"The park? Yea, I knew they would like it. I didn't know it would knock them out though." He said.

"I meant the whole thing. Them spending the night with us too. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be." She admitted. "And I think they kinda like me?"

Fitz held her hand and asked, "I told you that they would love you. What did you think was going to happen?"

"I don't know. But the highlight was definitely them painting your toenails. I'm so glad I took a picture of it!" She laughed.

"Liv! No you didn't!" Fitz chuckled. He knew she would be showing it around. "You gotta delete it."

"I don't think I do. I might make it my lock screen photo. You looked so relaxed, almost like you were enjoying it. I'll bet your mother would find this picture absolutely precious." She teased. "You father too."

"Awww come on, Liv. You can't show that to my dad. Or my brother." He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it. "Please?"

They came to a red light near his parent's house. Olivia leaned closer to him and said, "Uncle Fitz is really cute."

"Yea? How cute?" He flirted.

Olivia leaned even closer and kissed him. "Very cute! I think I would very much like to..."

"Where are we?" A sleepy voice from the back seat interrupted.

Olivia clamped her mouth shut immediately and quickly slid back into her seat while Fitz laughed and pushed the gas when the light turned green. "We are almost at Nana and Pops. I'll bet your mommy and daddy are ready for some big hugs."

After Thad and Robin had loved on their babies and listened patiently about every minute they had spent with uncle Fitz and aunt Olivia, the two happy parents told of their fun evening alone. Well, they told most of the story. They thanked Fitz and Olivia profusely for letting the girls spend the night and Olivia offered to do it again before they had to go back to Colorado the following week.

"Does anyone want to hear about our great night without anyone here?" Thomas asked as he squeezed Emma close. She chuckled and gave him a knowing smile.

Thad and Fitz both made horrified faces and replied quickly and loudly that no they most certainly did not want to hear about it. Olivia and Robin laughed at the men's reactions.

"You know what I want to hear about? What happened to mom's French sofa?" Thad asked innocently. He had enjoyed an evening out with his wife and was so happy, he wanted to see his older brother in the hot seat. It would add to the enjoyment he was feeling.

Fitz cut his eyes to his brother with a lethal glare. If Thad was in the mood to start shit he had plenty to share about his brother too. But if he would really rather his mother not hear this particular story. "Why you wanna bring that up?"

Thad, who was enjoying the moment immensely, smiled at his older brother and said, "The room seems empty without that sofa being in here. Mom, do you remember what happened to that beautiful couch? I really loved that thing."

Fitz figured the only way to play with fire, was with fire. "Mom, Thad compared you to a pig in shit the other day." Fitz grinned as his brother's eyes grew wide in shock.

"Fitzgerald! I'll not have you talking like that in front of my granddaughters." Emma said sternly. Thomas led the girls into the kitchen for some cookies when no one else moved. He really wanted to hear the conversation that was about to happen in his living room, but his sweet grandchildren trumped his crazy sons every time. Besides, he knew his wife well enough to know she had this completely under control. Still, he hated that he was going to miss it.

Thad silently laughed from the safety of behind his mother's back and pointed at Fitz.

"Thaddaeus, stop laughing. You've done your fair share of stupid things in this house too." She said without turning around.

"Need I remind you that I'm the good son, Mother?" Thad asked in the sweetest voice.

"Need I remind you that I saw you in this living room with Alyssa Burns years ago?"

Thad tried recalling any memory of him and the girl who had blossomed early in life in the house. "So. We were in here all the time. We dated for three months. The girl practically lived here."

"That wasn't dating." Fitz corrected. "That was wild rabbits in heat." Olivia poked him while trying to not laugh at this conversation that was sure to end badly for him.

Robin on the other hand, had no shame in finding humor in this mother son exchange. She wouldn't share it out loud, but that aspect of her husband had apparently not changed one bit. He was still like a wild rabbit in heat. It probably explained why she was pregnant again. She was waiting to share that aspect out loud with everyone when the time was right.

"Yes, but I am recalling the time where you had convinced her to lay on my French sofa wearing nothing so you could draw her." Fitz burst into uncontrollable maniacal laughter. "An asinine idea you got from a movie, I believe."

"You did not see that!" Thad begged. Fitz continued to laugh, unable to stop as his brother tried to figure out how in the hell his mother knew about that. She hadn't even been home that afternoon. His feeling of enjoyment was quickly fading.

"Oh but unfortunately I did, dear." Thad slumped in the recliner he was sitting in. Everyone in the room was laughing, but his brother was the loudest. The idea he had to air Fitz's dirty laundry had backfired. Turning to her firstborn, Emma pointed a finger at him and said, "And why are you laughing, Fitzgerald?"

"Yea, Fitzgerald," Thad mocked with a pout.

"Because that is hilarious! I knew my brother was an..." Emma raised an eyebrow and Fitz chose different words, "...idiot, but now he is the king of the world kind of idiot!" There were tears running down his face from the ridiculous story their mother had just shared for all to hear. Thad hadn't confided that blast from the past with him years ago, not that he cared. Finding out this way was so much sweeter.

"You are no better than he is, dear." Thad stopped sulking and was now listening intently to every word his mother was saying. Please let this precious woman have something really good on Fitz, he silently prayed.

The laughter coming from him stopped immediately. Fear had set in in its place. If she had just called out Thad she was bound to have an equally embarrassing story about him. He wasn't sure he wanted to hear it. And he was fairly certain he didn't want Olivia to hear it either. "What do you know about me?" Fitz asked in a panicked voice. "I was the good son."

"I know how my beloved French sofa was broken." She said with a knowing motherly smile.

"I told you that me and Rob were jumping over it and he fell on it and it broke." That was all she had? Still. Was it hot in the house? Fitz was starting to sweat.

Emma sat looking at Fitz with the same smile on her face. "You and I both know that isn't how it really got broken."

"Ok, so maybe I was the one who accidentally fell on it, causing it to break." He admitted. Please let one of the girls come in here wanting something. Fitz needed an interruption. A diversion. Something he couldn't create himself. Where were the girls at? He looked at Olivia, hoping she would help him out, but she was sitting in rapture, waiting to hear whatever his mother was about to say.

Still Emma sat there quiet as a mouse with a smile.

Thad started smirking. Their mother was like the CIA. She somehow knew everything before it even happened. Fitz was in deep shit, and Thad was here for it. Fitz chuckled humorlessly and said, "I don't have anything to hide. I broke your sofa with my friends. End of story."

"Fitzgerald. I know all about how you and Shelly Vaughn desecrated my sofa and then you blamed it on your friends." Her sons always thought they were masters of keeping things from her. Big things or little things. It was time for a reminder of who the master truly was.

And now Thad was the one laughing hysterically. Justice was being served mom style. He was going to buy her something extra nice for Christmas. Thad thought it was priceless seeing his older brother squirm and look horrified in hearing their mother tell a story about his reckless teenage self. At least she had plenty on both of them. It made the discomfort he had felt earlier a little more bearable knowing his brother was experiencing the same thing. The enjoyment was back.

Fitz's face had turned an interesting color red. How did this damn woman know everything, he wondered for the millionth time in his life? Olivia, who was sitting beside him, laughed and laid her head on his shoulder. "Babe, you didn't!" She accused.

"That stupid movie was a huge hit! And mom's sofa looked just like the one in it. So...we...took advantage of it. No one died!" Fitz stammered out. "Besides, how do you remember our girlfriend's names from twenty years ago?" He was sulking now.

Emma chuckled at her son from across the room. "A mother never forgets, dear. The both of you need to remember that when you start bringing up the past. My memory is long and I have information on both of you." Olivia and Robin stood up and clapped for Emma while the men sulked.

"The girls and I have decided that we want to fire up the grill and have burgers and hot dogs for lunch." Thomas announced with a granddaughter on each side of him. "Thad, go outside and get the grill going. Fitz, you can go in the kitchen and start making patties."

Both men knew better than to complain so they got up and shuffled to the backyard and kitchen. There might have been some shoving and name calling between them on their way, but it was done out of eye and earshot of both parents. They hoped.

After a lot of bitching and moaning between the two of them, and arguing over who had started the game of mom knows every damn thing, the burgers and hot dogs had been grilled to perfection. Thad brought them in as Betty Crocker, as he affectionately called Fitz that afternoon, prepared the vegetable toppings and made baked beans and coleslaw.

It was such a beautiful day that everyone heaped plates full of food and ate outside on the picnic table. Fitz and Thad were still not over how the afternoon had turned out and turned their competitive attention on the two girls. Fitz looked at Megan and asked, " Meggy Bear, who is your favorite guy in the whole world?"

Thad rolled his eyes at his brother, knowing he had this one in the bag. He was mentally chalking the win up in his mind, when his daughter looked up at her uncle and said between a mouthful of hot dog, "Pops."

Thomas sent Megan a wink and said, "That's my girl!" As his sons looked on dumbfounded.

Elizabeth looked at Fitz and said, "Everyone knows Pops is the best. Right Nana?"

"Right, Elizabeth." Emma hugged her close and shot her boys a look that said cut it out. After lunch was over, she announced that the boys were to clear the table and straighten up the kitchen. She dared them to argue. They knew better. But the grumbling, name calling, and shoving resumed the entire time they carried out the task.

"Fitz, did you bring us anything for dessert?" Thomas asked.

"Yea, dad. I had time to whip up some creme brulee while I was watching the girls." He replied sarcastically.

"Excuse me?" Olivia asked.

"Sorry, babe. While Olivia and I watched the girls." He pecked her lips as he washed the last pan. "Why don't you ask Thad if he had time to bring desert? He had all kinds of time on his hands last night."

Thad smirked in his brothers direction. "I had things on my hands last night, but it wasn't time. Right, honey?"

"Please stop talking to me," Robin joked. She pointed to the living room and Olivia happily followed her.

"How about you whip us up something then?" Thomas asked his older son. "You are the baker in the family."

Thad looked around the room, making sure his mother or daughters weren't within earshot. Feeling brave he retorted, "Yea, Betty Crocker. Get your ass in gear and make us something magnifique!"

"Why couldn't I have had a sister?" Fitz muttered.

"Both of you need to shut the hell up. Thad, get out of the kitchen and go play with your kids. Fitz, make something sweet so I can see that my money was put to good use in sending you to college."

"I own a bakery, Dad! I think it's safe to say that your money was well invested!" Fitz shot back.

As he walked out of the room, Thomas pointed at both of his boys and whispered, "Two daughters would have been easier than the both of you!"

"He's a fun guy. Well, I'm off to take his spot as the favorite. You have fun in the kitchen with your apron." Thad said laughing.

"You're an asshole!"

"Yes, Chef!" Thad called out as he walked away.

It was late in the afternoon. The girls had been laid down for a nap, and the adults were seriously considering the idea as well. Fitz had made them a layered chocolate pudding dessert. As he made it, he marveled at the coincidence that his mother happened to have all of the ingredients in her house. Coincidence my ass, Fitz thought. But he had said nothing and happily made it.

Fitz glanced over at Olivia, who was sitting on the couch beside Emma. She smiled at him and he took the hint. Rising from his seat he announced, "I think it's time for Olivia and I to head home. Some of us have to go to work in the morning."

Everyone stood up and hugs and goodbyes were exchanged. Fitz and Olivia got into his car and drove home, feeling utterly exhausted. He held her hand as they went and said, "I'm really looking forward to that bath you promised we could take earlier this morning."

"Babe!" Olivia whined. "I'm so tired! I just want to go to bed."

"Skip the middle man. I'm all for that too!" He joked. When she laughed he added, "I'll run the bath. It'll be a nice way to end the day. Followed by sex of course."

Olivia turned in her seat and kissed his cheek. "I could be persuaded only if you promise to walk around the house naked."

"You like that huh?" he said puffing his chest out.

"You know that I do." She put her hand down on his thigh and started rubbing gently.

"Babe, if you don't stop we are going to find ourselves either wrapped around a telephone pole or pulled over on the side of the road where I am going to have my way with you. Either way, people passing by are going to see things they probably don't want to." He put his hand on top of hers and brought it to his lips. "We'll be home in just a few minutes. Can you wait that long?"

"I don't think so. I missed you last night." Olivia reached her hands behind her back and started fidgeting in her seat. Fitz glanced over to see what she was doing as he drove a little faster. When Olivia pulled her bra out in front of her and proceeded to throw it on the floor by her feet, Fitz almost stopped breathing.

"You're trying to kill us aren't you?" He asked. When she giggled he reached over to her and put his hand under her shirt and started playing with her bare breasts. Olivia reclined the seat some and stretched her arms over her head. Fitz continued his hand play trying to concentrate on the road. When she reached down to her waist, Fitz said, "Babe, if you take off your pants I will not be held responsible for what happens afterward."

Olivia giggled and said, "Hurry up and get me home then." Fitz dropped his hand and sped up a little more.

When they got home, Fitz turned off the car and leaned over to kiss her lips thoroughly, allowing his tongue to slide in her mouth. When he had her breathless, he released her lips and flipped the front of her shirt up, attaching his hungry mouth to her hardened nipple. Olivia moaned appreciatively and put her hand on the back of his head, encouraging him. He gave the other one the same attention as Olivia started sinking into her seat. "Babe, get me into the tub. Now!"

Fitz jumped out of his seat and walked around to her door, seeing that she was still laying there a puddle of need. He opened her door, pulled her shirt down, and flung her over his shoulder. He grabbed her bra and started walking to the front door seeing their neighbor outside watering his shrubs. The neighbor  
started to wave and then stopped himself when he took in the sight before him. "Evening, Charles." Fitz said and continued walking. Olivia covered her face and laughed at the situation.

Once inside, Fitz dropped Olivia on her feet and kissed her again with the pent up passion he had felt through the short car ride home. He had his hands full of her ass and had pushed her up against the wall as she jumped into his arms, never breaking the kiss. He walked them to the bedroom and he told her all the things he planned to do to her body before he dropped her on their still messed up bed. "I'm going to start the bath. I'll be right back."

In the bathroom Fitz turned on the water, making it a littler warmer than normal. He figured no matter how hot the water would be, they were bound to make it even hotter. While the water ran, he relieved himself and washed his hands. While he was there, he brushed his teeth and started stripping his clothes off. He was down to his boxer briefs when he turned back to the tub to add some of the sweet smelling bubble bath that he knew Olivia loved. He preferred to be able to see her body without the hindrance of bubbles, but he made an exception this time. It would help her relax, which would benefit him too. He grinned to himself.

He quickly stepped out of his underwear and called to her, "Babe. I'm starting naked time a little early. Are you ready for this?" He was awfully proud of himself for taking care of everything for her and walked into their bedroom. Olivia was still laying on their bed where he plopped her down. "Ok, your wish has been granted. Take a look."

She didn't move.

"Babe?" He called.

Nothing.

Fitz walked around to the other side of the bed and noticed that her eyes were closed and she was breathing heavily. Olivia was asleep. Well damn.


	35. Attitude

**I'm so sorry for the late posting. It couldn't be helped though. It's been a crazy week, and it's going to be a crazy weekend too. I'll do my very best to get a chapter written for posting on Monday, but if it doesn't happen, it'll be Thursday at the latest. Thank you again for reading the insane things my imagination comes up with. I appreciate every one of you. Happy Easter!**

Attitude

Olivia was sitting in her office keeping busy with a case she was currently working on. She had spent her morning in court and was prepping for her next appearance by reviewing what was in front of her. She had a few days to make sure that everything was how it should be and that she hadn't missed anything of importance. She knew the case inside and out, but the perfectionist in her was demanding another look. She made a few more notes, but was confident this would be chalked up to another win for her.

She stopped by Yvonne's desk telling her that she was leaving to go to lunch and what time she would be back. At her assistant's nod, Olivia got on the elevator and left the building. She had accomplished quite a bit already and had more work to do when she returned.

The warm weather she had been enjoying all summer was already starting its slow descent to fall. It was still very warm outside, but nowhere near the scorching temperatures she looked forward to feeling whenever she was outside the last few months. Olivia was a summer person but she'd take an eighty degree weather day over a sixty degree one every time. So she put her sunglasses on her face and let the sun warm her skin.

After a fifteen minute ride, she went inside a diner she had eaten at several times before. She sat down at a table outside deciding to enjoy the warm day to its fullest. A waitress immediately took her order with a smile and complimented her shoes. They were cute, but damn they hurt after a few hours. The price of being female.

When it arrived, she ate her lunch in peace at a leisurely rate enjoying the outdoors as well as the food. She was finishing up her meal when her phone alerted her that she had received a text message. She pulled her phone from her purse that she had set in the seat next to her and looked at the face of it. A smile spread across her face as she saw it was from Fitz.

 _We're going out tonight. I'll fill you in about it when you get home. Love you_

Olivia re-read the message and while she had no idea what Fitz had in mind, it would be great to enjoy a night out with him. She sent him a reply

 _Where are we going? I need to know how to dress._

Her phone alerted her of his return reply almost immediately.

 _Don't worry about it. It's been taken care of._

He was being chivalrous. And a little sneaky. It was a good combination to pique her curiosity.

 _Sounds like a plan. I'll see you home around five. Love you back_

Olivia picked up her purse, leaving a generous tip and proceeded inside to pay for her meal. Once that was settled, she got into her car and headed back to work, wondering what her man had up his sleeve for later on. She knew it wouldn't be dull.

Hours later she arrived at home to find the place empty. It was after five and she wondered where Fitz was at? She picked up her phone and called him to see what time she should be ready and what she should wear. It went to voicemail. Maybe he was in traffic? Maybe he was working late and forgot? Or couldn't get away? She'd try to call him again in a bit or see if he would call her back.

She went to her bedroom in search of pajamas to wear until she was told what their plans were. In the middle of her bed she found a beautifully wrapped box. She glanced around their room and then her eyes landed on the box again. She sat down on her bed and cautiously tore the pretty wrapping paper from the box. There were no markings on it telling her where the contents had come from. She lifted the lid and peered inside.

A handwritten note was laying in the middle of the tissue paper that was covering whatever was underneath it. Olivia knew the lefthanded handwriting upon sight. Fitz had written the note. She picked it up and began reading his words

 _We are going out tonight. I bought a little something that I would very much like to see on your body. Go to Club Attitude on Bowery Street after six. I owe you a night of dancing so this should cover it. This is not a typical date night however. You don't know me and I don't know you. Let's see if you have what it takes to get my attention and vice versa. Club Attitude, Miss Pope. And bring yours. You're gonna need it._

Olivia raised her eyebrows at his note. Someone had too much time on their hands at work today. Or someone was trying to add a little spice to things. Either way, she was intrigued. It was completely ridiculous, but Olivia knew she had what it took to get his attention. She wondered what he had chosen for her to wear and peeled back the tissue paper.

She held the dress up for inspection. The man did have good taste in clothes. He had chosen a gorgeous red mini dress that had a plunging cowl neck with a lace insert. The back was sheer lace until it hit your ass. It looked like it would fit like a glove and Olivia had no doubt her petite body would look really good in this dress.

But she wasn't going to wear this dress.

Fitz would be looking for her a red dress. And according to his own rules, he wasn't supposed to know who she was. Loopholes were such good things sometimes. She folded the dress and put it back in the box in came from and smiled at her own cleverness.

Olivia got up off the bed and headed to her closet. She was stopped mid step by her cellphone letting her know someone was calling. She retrieved it from the bed and grinned like a crazy person when she saw who it was. She answered it immediately. "Hey trouble! How have you been?"

"Hey, Liv. I've been doing great. How about you?" He asked.

"Life is good right now. I've got no complaints."

"I heard you shacked up with some guy you barely know. How's that goin'?" He teased.

"You're still an ass I see. Fitz is great. We're both doing great. Living with a guy is fun."

"That's the sex talking. I remember how that is." He chuckled and asked in a serious tone, "Is he good to you? Because if he isn't I'll..."

"Shut up. No one believes your threats. Me more than anyone. He is really good to me. In every way a man should be good to a woman. You'd like him."

"Will I ever get to meet him?"

"If you'd move your ass back to DC you could. I wish you would move back here. I miss you."

"I'm never moving to DC. This place is way too political. I don't know how you don't lose your sanity here."

Olivia's ears perked up at his accidental admission. "This place? You're here? In DC?"

The man smiled through the phone line. Olivia never missed anything. "Actually, I'm just here for tonight. I fly back home in the morning. Why?" He was met with silence on the phone line as Olivia pieced together a plan. "Hello? Liv?"

"Do you have anything planned for the next two or three hours?" She asked innocently. "I need a favor."

"Oh shit. Should I be scared?" He laughed.

"Probably." She giggled. "How would you like to be my date for the next few hours?"

"Ewww, Liv. No." He said through a scrunched up face.

"I'll buy your drinks as long as you stay." She offered, hoping he would say yes. He sighed loudly and thought about it for a few seconds.

"Why the hell not? I could use a night out with you. It'll be like old times."

"Yay! Tell me where you're staying and I'll send an uber to pick you up in an hour." He gave her the address to where he was staying, made her promise to fill him in on all the details, and they ended the call.

Once that was taken care of, she went to the back of her closet. The very back. The clothes that hung here were items that she no longer wore. Clothes she wore when she went out with her girlfriends after her college days. The sexy stuff.

She riffled through them one at a time looking for the one that spoke to her. As she did so, she made a mental note to get rid of most of them. She marveled that she still had them, much less that she had actually worn them out in public. After passing up several interesting or embarrassing items, she heard the distinct 'this will fuck him up' scream from a dress she had long forgotten about.

Wondering if it still fit, Olivia took it off the hanger and went into the bathroom to try it on. She took off her undergarments and threw them in the clothing hamper nearby. She pulled on a black lace thong and nothing else before putting the dress on. This sexy thing was a sleeveless black leather dress that hugged every curve and fit like a second skin. It had a zipper that ran up the center of the dress and would stop in the middle of her impressive cleavage. The strap holding the dress up went around her neck ended at her right breast and was held together by a silver buckle. If memory served her right, the bottom of the dress hit a few inches below her ass.

She pulled the zipper up the center of the dress with ease and adjusted her boobs so they were practically spilling over the top of it. She looked at herself in the mirror and grinned at her reflection. Olivia started applying her make-up to look a little edgier to match the look. Bright red lipstick was the finishing touch on her face and she went to find heels. She grabbed the silver ones she had worn on her first date with Fitz. The video she had sent to his phone showing them off brought lustful thoughts to her mind. She needed to make him another video soon. She put her silver hoops through her ears and went back into the bathroom to check out the completed look. Yea, this was definitely going to fuck him up. She glanced at her watch and saw that it was already after six o'clock. She grabbed her clutch and headed out the door. Fitz wasn't gonna know what hit him.

Olivia could hear the music from a block away. After being dropped off at the entrance of the club, she stood in line waiting to get in. She made conversation with two girls in line ahead of her. They talked about each other's outfits, the hopes of getting laid tonight, and the club. Olivia didn't know about the two of them, but sex was definitely on the agenda for her and Fitz tonight.

The loud music she had heard from outside was nothing compared to the teeth rattling level they were hit with inside. There were a lot of people here but the place wasn't packed yet. She made her way over to a table she was lucky enough to snag and sat down to wait for her companion.

He showed up thirty minutes later and took his time enjoying the female scenery. As previously discussed between the two of them, he walked around talking to the ladies, a real attempt on his part. He kept his eye on Olivia watching for the sign from her that she had spotted Fitz inside.

Another twenty minutes later Olivia finally saw him. Fitz was standing near the door scoping the place out. Translation: he was looking for her. And he wasn't being very inconspicuous about it either. Olivia averted her gaze from his before he saw her.

She could feel his eyes on her. Lots of people can feel when they are being watched, but this was different. Olivia could feel him checking her out. Wondering why she wasn't wearing red. She smiled to herself and pulled on her ear, which was the signal for company to come over to her table. He appeared like a mist.

"You know this is the dumbest idea you've ever had, right? I mean, this is seriously fucked up. If things are so boring with the two of you that you need a night out pretending to not know each other then you got bigger problems than trying to make him jealous."

"Shhh!" She looked around to make sure no one had heard him. "Things are not boring between us. There is fire, and then there's what we have. Just do what I asked you to and everything will be fine. Shit! He's coming over. Ask to buy me a drink."

Fitz had seen Olivia from across the room talking to a man. He wasn't impressed. This guy had to go. He was about to get a clear message that this woman was not available. After he asked about what she had on. He stepped up beside Olivia and said, "What in the hell do you think you're wearing?"

"Excuse me?" She said.

"You look like you are trying out for the part of Catwoman." He eyed her outfit, not liking how well it fit her. "Where is the red dress?"

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" She asked in an outraged voice.

"Liv!" His voice warned.

"Dude! You must have the lady mixed up with someone else. She obviously doesn't know you. And she obviously doesn't like the way you are talking to her. It's probably why you are here alone. Go away and let us talk." Olivia's companion said.

"Listen, you don't know me..."

"And I'd like to keep it that way. Take the hint and go."

Fitz looked at Olivia for help but she went back to her conversation with whoever this asshole was. And then he remembered his own rule. They didn't know each other. Two could play that game. He apologized and walked away.

"You'd better be glad I love you. He was about to try to beat my ass. I don't think this is such a good idea, Liv. It's not going to end well." He warned.

"Have a drink and calm down, Harrison. He's not going to do anything. He thinks you're some random guy trying to pick me up. Besides, he's mad that I didn't wear the dress he bought me." The two of them caught up on old times for a while and then Olivia saw Fitz on the dance floor. With some blonde bitch.

Oh, hell no!

Olivia grabbed her cousin's hand. "Let's go dance. Don't touch me, but make it look good." Harrison knew she didn't bring him along just for his good looks. He threw his drink back and the two of them got on the floor and started dancing.

Not long into the song, the two of them were laughing and dancing at the same time. To an outsider, it probably looked like they were a happy couple enjoying a night out together. To the two of them, Harrison had just burped loudly and no one had batted an eye because the music was at an ear splitting volume.

Fitz caught Olivia's eye and smiled at her. She winked at him in return, followed by a smile. They finished dancing to the song with their eyes on each other. Olivia looked around for Harrison to go get another drink. She pulled him off some skank who was rubbing her body all over his. As she rolled her eyes, she noticed Fitz and the bitch leaving the dance floor too.

They went to the bar, and since there were empty chairs, took a seat in them waiting to give their drink order to the bartender. Fitz and the bitch came and sat down to the right of her. The bartender took their orders and went to get what they requested. When he brought them back Olivia took a healthy pull from her glass and then started playing with the straw.

Fitz drank his ginger ale in one thirsty gulp and looked over at Olivia. When she finally made eye contact with him he said, "Hi."

She smiled at him and said, "Hi."

"It's probably inappropriate to say this to a stranger, but you look fucking hot!" He admitted.

"You're right. It is inappropriate. Tell me more." She teased.

"I really want to pull that zipper down and see what you have on under that dress." He said suggestively.

"If you play your cards right I just might let you." She flirted.

"Are you always so forward with strangers?"

"Only the ones I really want to get naked with."

Harrison and the bitch were sitting there with their mouths hanging open in complete shock and awe.

"What makes you think you could handle what I've got?" Fitz slid his chair closer to hers and reached a hand out to touch her hair. His eyes were glued to her red lips.

"I'm fairly confident that I can take whatever you're working with. But what makes you think you can handle what I may or may not have on under this dress?"

Fitz's eyes roamed her body unashamedly. "From the looks of how tight it is, I'm betting there is just one thing between me and what's under that zipper."

"You sure about that?"

"If you will stand up and turn in a slow circle, I will tell you exactly what's under it." He knew his girl well.

"Really? Would you like to bet on it?" She asked with one raised eyebrow.

"Oh most definitely! Let's hear the terms of this bet."

She smiled at him, knowing he had used lawyer jargon on purpose. "Sex in the bathroom. If you are right, I'll screw you in the men's bathroom. If you're wrong, you'll screw me in the women's bathroom."

Harrison spit out his drink across the counter. The bitch looked intrigued.

Fitz leaned close and whispered in her ear. "On the counter? In front of the mirror?" He asked as dark thoughts invaded his mind.

"If that's what you want." She leaned close to him, put her hand in his curls at the back of his head, and whispered in his ear. "If I win, I'm going to want to lean across the bathroom counter, looking in the mirror, while you slam into me from behind.

Fitz growled in his throat and looked into her eyes. "All I need is that slow circle please."

Olivia held his intense gaze, her breathing becoming heavy. "Yes, Sir."

He felt himself get hard at her words. He groaned and watched Olivia get up off her chair and very slowly turn in a circle. She wiggled her hips when her back was to him. Harrison rolled his eyes at her. The bitch watched to see how the tall drink of water would react. She also wondered why he cared so much?

When Olivia was facing Fitz again, she put her hand on her hip and waited for his answer. When he said nothing at all, she said, "Well? What do you think?"

Fitz licked his lips and said, "It's a turtleneck. You win. LET'S GO!" He grabbed her hand and practically dragged her to the ladies room. There was a fairly long line of women standing there waiting to get in to pee or check their make-up. He kept walking, pulling her behind him until he got to the door.

There was loud grumbling and name calling to their backs from the other women. Fitz stopped at the door, with his left hand on it, and turned to the angry line of females. He gave them his most charming smile and said, "Ladies. This delicious looking woman has agreed to have sex with me in this bathroom."

They started grumbling loudly at both of them now and pointing their fingers at them.

"Ladies! If you will give us twenty minutes and keep all other females away from this door I will personally pay each of you twenty bucks each. Whaddya say?"

"Fitz!" Olivia scolded.

He watched them in their small groups whispering at each other, glancing at him and Liv every few seconds. "A dollar a minute is good money to stand right where you are."

Most of them grinned back at him and suddenly erupted into loud clapping. A few women came out the bathroom door and wondered what was going on, but continued walking. Olivia giggled and gave the women a thumbs up before going inside to make sure it was empty. After discovering that it was, she opened the door and grabbed Fitz's hand, pulling him inside and locking the door behind them.

They ladies clapping could still be heard. "Ohmygod. I can't believe you just did that." Olivia giggled at Fitz.

"You're talking entirely too much, Miss Pope. And we only have twenty minutes. Do you really want to spend it talking?" He grabbed her by the back of her hair and pulled her close, crushing his lips to hers. Olivia wound both arms around his neck and plunged her tongue into his mouth. When he pulled away from her he added, "I didn't think so." "Let's see if my guess was right." He chuckled at her as he reached for the zipper between her breasts and pulled it down to the bottom. The chuckle died immediately and he inhaled deeply, taking in the sight of the small patch of black lace. "I guess I was wrong, huh?" Fitz took a moment to just look at her, with the sides of her dress hanging off of her shoulders. He went back to kissing her and as it intensified Fitz pulled away and spun her around at lightning speed. "Hands on the counter. Hold on tight. This is gonna be a fast bumpy ride." He pulled her thong down her legs and she stepped out of it. He stuck the black lace into his pants pocket.

Fitz flipped the end of the short dress up onto her back and unzipped his pants. Olivia watched him in the mirror and waited for the feel of his warm skin on hers. A scream tore from her lips as he slammed into her, filling her fully. As quickly as he entered, he pulled back out. "Talking is overrated. Don't you think?" He groaned.

The loud cheers resumed from outside the door and they both wondered how anyone could hear them over the sound of the music?

"Babe. I just need a minute."

Fitz stood there watching her try to control her facial expressions. God, she's sexy, he thought. He put his hands on her hips, leaned over her back, and said, "Time is money right now. We can talk later." He pulled out of her and rammed back into her over and over while she screamed and grabbed the counter until her knuckles turned white. Her face was twisted into a painful expression, but pain was the very last thing she was feeling right now.

Olivia leaned on the counter, letting the cool feel of it bring the heated temperature of her body down some. Fitz never stopped pushing and pulling his hips to her body. "Look at me, babe."

She kept her head down, trying to concentrate on the delicious feelings her body was experiencing. She ignored him, but couldn't ignore how she was feeling. She was moaning loudly and breathing heavily.

"Look at me, Olivia." He panted. "I'm going to push you over the edge of the world and I want to watch your face when it happens."

"It feels so good. Please don't ever stop." She whimpered.

"Look in the mirror or I will stop." That did the trick. Her head snapped up to see him watching her. "That's my girl. We don't have much time left, so this is going to be quick." He swiveled his hips and somehow went even faster in and out of her body.

"Ohmygod! Sell the bakery. Give them whatever they want." She moaned, feeling her release approaching closer. "Just don't stop!"

"There's no time for that. Four minutes left." He was sweating and gripped her hips even harder, probably leaving marks. "But we're not leaving until I hear that scream I love so much. Where is that orgasm at?" He reached down between her legs and starting rubbing her core.

Why did he do that? Things were fantastic before he did that. Now they were blissful. She encouraged him to keep going as she teetered on the brink of ecstasy. She started chanting his name repeatedly.

And then he heard it. Her face contorted and she held her breath, followed by an intelligible scream. Her body convulsed repeatedly as she came down from it. Fitz kept going for a few more seconds and followed right behind her with grunts and curses. He dropped his head on her back as his chest heaved in and out. "Fuck me, babe. You need to wear turtlenecks more often." He chuckled and planted a kiss on her back.

"You can't touch me right now. I think I'm broken." She chuckled back.

They cleaned up as best they could and put their clothes back on. Olivia kissed him as they walked to the bathroom door. "By the way, that guy out there is my cousin, Harrison." She thoroughly enjoyed watching his mouth hang open at that information. You go pay the ladies and I'll ditch the bitch. Then come and find me on the dance floor. You owe me one."

Fitz slapped her ass and kissed her cheek. Once the door was opened loud cheers greeted them. They both smiled and blushed as ladies rushed by to get into the stalls. Open hands greeted Fitz along with pats on the back. Olivia grinned at him and walked away, leaving him to hand out lots of twenty dollar bills.


	36. I Lub You

**I will admit that some of what you read here was Googled. My apologies if anything is incorrect.**

I Lub You

"How far away from home are you? The wind is really picking up, babe." Olivia was sitting under the blankets on their bed. Their area had bad storms coming through within the hour and the wind had arrived earlier than expected. She was home alone and wanted Fitz to be there with her.

"I'm getting kind of scared."

"It's just a passing storm. It'll be over before you know it."

"But..." She began.

"But I'll be home in five minutes. Stay inside."

"Like I'd go outside in this weather!"

"I gotta go. Your inner smartass is coming out. I'll be right there Stay calm." Fitz ended the call and put his phone in the cup holder. He had fallen in love with a woman who panicked over bad weather. Great. It was gonna be a long night. Maybe he could distract her with sex? The thought brought him some small measurement of joy as he continued driving.

The wind really was showing off this afternoon, he thought to himself. As he carefully drove home, he could feel the force of it against the car. At the next red light he leaned over the steering wheel and looked up to the sky. It was currently a mixture of fast moving angry looking gray clouds, the promised rain on the brink of spilling out of them any minute. Maybe Olivia had a good reason to be a little worried.

When the light turned green he continued on the roads he took home every day. They were covered with leaves that had been blown off the trees like a child blows a white dandelion. The cars were sparse on the roads, other than the few brave souls just trying to get home safely and out of harm's way. He glanced around at the trees and saw them leaning from the force of the wind. They looked like they would snap in half any minute.

He put on his blinker to made a left turn when he spotted a car in the opposite lane without his lights on, speeding like a lunatic. He saw him too late. The car clipped Fitz's as he was turning, hitting it on the passenger back side. The air bags deployed and his car started spinning, coming to a loud stop up against a telephone pole. The other driver never stopped.

Fitz opened his eyes with his head resting up against the driver's side window. He wondered where he was and what that noise was. He blinked his eyes a few times to get his bearings but things were a little blurry when he tried to focus on anything. He put his hand up in front of his face and saw that it had red on it. What the hell was that? He wiped it on his jeans and tried a few times to take off his seat belt. He got it off on the third try.

He pulled the door handle but it wouldn't open. He pushed on it while he held the handle but that made his head throb. He looked out his shattered window and saw a brown pole up against his door. How did that get there? He looked out the passenger window and saw that it was still intact and there was nothing preventing it from being opened. Taking his time, he got on his belly and tried to crawl across to the other seat. He groaned loudly at the effort that simple task took. He tried the handle. It opened with no problem. Fitz tried to unfold his legs from where the pedals were but they were too long and it hurt too much. He continued crawling until he eventually fell out of the car onto the leaf covered pavement.

He landed on the ground with a thud. As the wind whipped around him he rolled onto his back and took several breaths. He laid there a while to take inventory of exactly where his body hurt. His head was on fire. His whole body hurt in general but nowhere in particular. He opened his eyes and looked up at the sky. He was about to get rained on. Great.

He rolled over and laid his cheek on the road. He put his hands flat on the road and got on his hands and knees. He stayed like that until he was sure he wouldn't fall over. He then very slowly stood up and winced some from the effort it took. He was no doctor but he was fairly certain he didn't have any broken ribs. He stumbled around his car like a drunk hobo surveying the damage. Shit. It was probably totaled. At least it wasn't on fire. When he came back to the passenger side he looked inside the car. On the passenger floor board was his cell phone. It was making a weird noise he couldn't place.

And then he remembered that Olivia was at home freaking out about the storm. Maybe that was her calling? He leaned down to pick it up and swore the most colorful words from the strain of it. He shook some glass off the face of it and then it stopped ringing. He had missed a call from her. Didn't he just talk to her? He wondered why she was calling him again if he had just spoken to her? Maybe he had been here a little longer than he thought?

He called her back and she answered on the first ring.

"Where the hell are you?"

"Relax. I juss talked on you a few days ago." He slurred.

"What did you just say?"

"I don't know white you or calling again?" Why wasn't she comprehending what he was saying? Damn.

"Are you messing with me, Fitz? If you are, it's not funny! I'm scared here all by myself. You were supposed to be home forty five minutes ago." She wondered where he could possibly have gone on a night like this and not let her know?

"Thassnot white. I talked on you just a mimute ago!"

"Fitz. Why are you talking so weird?" She inquired. He sounded strange.

"My head hurps, babe. It's fucking kidding me." He put his hand on his head trying to make the hurt subside. It didn't work.

"You have a headache? Come home and I'll take care of you."

"I can't, Lib. My car is broke." He just wanted to stop talking but she seemed to have a million questions right now. Olivia sat up straight.

"What do you mean your car is broke? Did you get a flat tire? Jesus, Fitz can you change it in this weather?"

More questions. He just wanted silence. And to lay down somewhere quiet. "Some idcanot hit my can." Please don't let her have another question!

"What does that mean? You're not making any sense." Olivia silently prayed for patience. She heard him muttering unintelligible profanities and again wondered where he was. There was silence on the line. "Fitz?"

"Can you come ged me?" He pleaded. "My can is broke."

What in the hell...? Olivia wondered for the umpteenth time with her eyes closed. After a few minutes of trying to read between his lines, her eyes snapped open and her mouth formed an O. Panic set in like a rising flood. "Fitz? Were you in an car accident?"

"Thass whad I said." He whined.

"And did you hit your head?" She already knew the answer but wished it was a different one.

"Yeth. It fulking hurts too!"

"Are you hurt anywhere other than your head?" A head injury was bad enough. Please don't let there be anything else wrong.

"I dunno. Ate you combing to hit me or what?"

Olivia threw on clothes as she talked to him. When her shoes were on her feet, she grabbed her purse and keys and went out the door. "I'm on my way to get you right now. Do you know where you are? Look around and tell me what you see please."

"I don wanna talk no more, Lib. I'm so tired. I jus wanna lay down."

"Fitzgerald Grant! Listen to me! You can sleep when you get home. Now tell me what you see around you." She started her car and started driving at a turtles pace, waiting for his reply.

He looked to the left and right, but it made his head pound. He put his hand back on it, but it didn't help. He saw a road sign and squinted through his headache and the wind to read it. It was no use. He started walking towards it. "I see a sight that said Mobey Cricket."

Olivia scrunched up her face. Then it dawned on her. "Mobley Circle?"

"MmmHmm."

"Ok, I'll be there in five minutes. Go sit in the car, but stay on the phone with me. And DO NOT close your eyes or I will be pissed at you!" He's fine. He's fine. He's fine. Olivia chanted it in her mind over and over as if by doing so it would make it true.

Fitz sat in the passenger seat and reclined it fully so he could lay down. He was exhausted and really wanted to go to sleep. Olivia wouldn't stop talking long enough to allow that to happen though, so he was just lying there with his eyes closed when she pulled up.

Olivia parked her car in front of Fitz's and put on her hazard lights. She ended the call with him and stepped outside. She looked at his car and couldn't move. She gasped at the sight of the crumpled mass of metal and shattered glass in front of her. The driver's side door was neatly indented against a telephone pole. The passenger side back had a good sized dent in it as well. Most of the windows had been shattered and glass was everywhere. It could've been so much worse.

She snapped out of her shock and called 911. She gave the situation and address to the dispatcher, and was promised that an ambulance and police officer would be there shortly. Olivia walked over to the passenger door, which was open and saw Fitz for the first time. She would freak out later. For now, she wanted to be strong for him. "You're not sleeping are you?"

"If youassme nother question I will kick your ass." He said with his eyes closed.

"I'm pretty sure I could take you right now. How's your..." She stopped the question and made it a statement, not scared of him at all, but as a way to keep him from having to answer another one. "I'm going to look at your head now."

She helped him sit up in the seat as he groaned in pain. She gently ran her fingers through his hair and felt the glass shards peppered within it. And then she felt the knot on the left side. He groaned some more and complained that it hurt like hell. She moved her hand and glanced over at the driver's side window, and realized that he probably had smacked it pretty hard when the car landed on the pole.

She ran her hands over his shoulder and when he didn't make any noises in complaint she figured it was fine. She saw smeared blood mixed with running blood on one of his hands and gently looked at it to see where it was coming from. He had a decent sized cut that almost ran down the entire length of his middle finger. Olivia opened his glove compartment and found some napkins. She wrapped his finger with them and held it tightly.

Olivia knew there could still be some things wrong with him internally, but the things that she could see weren't fatal. It was a safe bet that Fitz had a concussion, and his finger would probably need stitches. She heard the sirens coming and touched a part of his face that wasn't marked with scratches and blood. "I guess we've got to get a new car now, huh? You know, you could have my car and I could get something super sexy. That seems fair."

"No way. I need a hot ribe to pick ub chicks." Olivia chuckled through the tears that threatened to fall.

"No one is going to want to date a guy with a bumped head and warped sense of humor. I'm afraid you're stuck with me, Mister." She leaned over and kissed his cheek and felt him touch her hand.

"I lub you, Liv. Jus you."

"I lub you too, babe."

The paramedics parked and came to the passenger seat asking Fitz how he was feeling. They took his blood pressure and asked him to follow the pen light with his eyes among other things. When one of the paramedics told him he definitely had a concussion and needed to go to the hospital, Fitz just said ok. They helped him lie down on the stretcher, popped the wheels out, and loaded him into the ambulance.

Olivia asked which hospital they were going to and told them she would follow. She grabbed his car keys and cell phone before going to get into her own car. While she waited for them she closed her car door and sat there for a minute. The rain had arrived and was coming down at a fast pace. The weather outside matched exactly how Olivia was feeling on the inside. The tears were threatening to come again so she rested her forehead on the steering wheel and focused on her breathing as one slipped down her cheek. She would break down later she promised herself. She took a deep breath in and then let it out. She started her car and followed the now moving Fitz transporter.

At the hospital Olivia looked for a parking place while Fitz was being unloaded and wheeled into the hospital. They were back at Saint Frances Hospital. This time with a different Grant man lying in a hospital bed. The thought occurred to Olivia that she needed to call his mother and let her know what was going on.

She pulled her cell phone out of her purse and scrolled through her contacts until she found Emma's name. She touched the phone icon and waited while she heard the ringing. Emma picked up on the second ring. "Hello, Olivia dear. How are you?"

"Hey, Emma." And then she was at a loss for words. How do you tell a woman that her son, grown or not, had been in a car accident and was currently in the hospital? Her mind raced trying to think of the right words, but she came up blank. Olivia hoped Fitz's mom was with his dad. "Are you and Thomas at home by chance?"

"Yes. We stayed in tonight because of the bad weather. I hope the two of you are doing the same?"

"Well, actually, we aren't at home. I need to tell you something but I need for you to stay calm. Can you do that?"

"What's happened?" Emma was up out of her chair and was searching for her car keys as she waited for Olivia to answer her.

There was probably no way to break this kind of information to her, but to just say it. Like ripping off a bandage fast. "Fitz was on his way home from work and was in a car accident. He's at Saint Frances Hospital and the paramedics say he has a concussion. He's also got a finger that needs stitches. They checked him out on the site of the accident and they brought him in to check for any internal injuries. He's going to be fine, but I knew you'd want to know."

"Thank you for calling me, Olivia. I will be there as quickly as I can get there in this dreadful weather."

Olivia knew there was no way she'd be able to talk Emma out of coming to the hospital, so she didn't even try. They ended the call and Emma was putting on her raincoat and headed to the front door. Thomas, who had been listening to her side of the call jumped up out of his recliner and asked, "Where the hell do you think you're going?" His wife none too calmly informed him that their son had been in an accident and she was going to the hospital. "I'm going too."

"Well hurry up then. I need to see my baby."

"Baby? He's over six feet tall and living with a woman. He ain't no baby, Em." Thomas tried to explain as he followed her out into the whipping wind to get into the car.

"He'll always be my baby. So hush your mouth you old goat and let's get moving." She warned. Thomas started driving in silence.

After calling Emma, Olivia had called Abby for support. She had left home, without question, to be by her side while the doctors checked Fitz out. As soon as Abby walked through the waiting room door, Olivia released all the tears that she had kept inside since seeing Fitz and his car. Abby held her tightly and let her cry it out.

When she had no more tears to cry, she thanked Abby for being there and the two of them sat down in hard plastic chairs to talk. "What happened exactly?"

"I'm still not sure. He wasn't making sense when we spoke on the phone after it happened. It took me a while to realize that he had even been in an accident. And when I got there and saw his car, Abby it's a wonder he's even alive. I was giving him a hard time because I was at home scared of the storm outside while he was hurting in his car."

"Liv, stop it! You didn't know that. The point is you got to him and he is going to be fine. That's what we are going to focus on, ok?" Olivia nodded her head mutely. "Besides, you know he is going to love being the center of attention for the next few hours."

Olivia chuckled at the truth of that statement. She appreciated her friend for being there and for keeping her mind off of how badly it could have been. "You're right. He's probably flirting with nurses right now and blaming it on his head injury." The two women smiled at the image of it.

A doctor walked into the room and asked for the family of Fitzgerald Grant. Olivia and Abby stood up and she asked, "Are the two of you family members?" Both women said no and while Olivia tried to tell her she was his girlfriend, the doctor informed them that she could only give out medical information to immediate family.

Emma and Thomas walked into the room and were standing behind the doctor. "We are Fitzgerald Grant's parents. And this sweet girl here is practically his wife. You can give information about him to the three of us at any time."

The doctor knew she wasn't allowed to give information to 'practically a wife of' a patient, so she instead directed what she had to say at the two people she knew were family members. "Yes, ma'am. Mr. Grant has a concussion from the accident he was in earlier. He got several stitches in a finger on his left hand as well. We did an MRI as well as a CT scan to check everything internally."

"And?" Olivia asked quietly.

"And there is nothing wrong with him internally." The four of them hugged each other, all letting out sighs of relief. "He is going to have a headache for a while, and since he's male, he's probably going to be a headache for a while too. Present company excluded, I'm sure."

"You had it right the first time, dear." Emma chuckled. "Can we go in and see him?"

"Sure. You can all go back together. He'll be released in a few hours. We need to do some simple neuropsychological tests. They are done in his room to make sure he can remember things. Which of you is his primary care giver?"

"That would be me." Olivia said timidly.

"The things you need to watch out for over the next few days are lingering headaches, slurred speech, nausea or vomiting. Watch to see if he gets confused easily or loses his train of thought, or if he becomes extremely tired and is hard to wake him up." At Olivia's panicked expression the doctor touched her arm and said, "These are precautionary things to watch for. Most people don't experience any of them, but you do need to be mindful of them. If Mr. Grant shows any signs of the things I've mentioned just bring him back here to get checked out."

"Ok. I can do that. Does he need to stay out of work at all? Can he drive? I don't know what to ask." Olivia admitted.

"We will go over all of that before he is released. He can return to work if he feels up to it, but he'll need to take it easy for a few days. He can drive, if it doesn't bother his eyes. He's going to need a lot of rest to help him be back at one hundred percent as well. We'll give you a handout covering everything you might not think to ask about. Ok?"

"Thank you very much. For everything." Olivia hugged the doctor and the four visitors followed her to where Fitz was.

He was asleep in the narrow bed with white sheets and a white blanket covering him up. He looked completely peaceful. His hair was still messed up, the curls Olivia loved to touch were matted with dry blood in places. He had a bandage over his right temple, an area that Olivia must have missed when she was looking for injuries. His middle finger looked like it had already been stitched up. She stayed back, letting his parents talk to him first. A mother's love was a powerful thing. She respected that.

Emma walked to the side of his bed and rubbed his arm. He stirred in his sleep and opened his eyes, seeing his mother's looking back at him. "Hey, mom."

"How are you feeling? Do you need anything?" Emma wanted something to keep herself busy so she wouldn't cry in front of him. She looked around for a cup and pitcher to get him some water.

"No thank you. My head still hurts some. I'm really glad you're here but you shouldn't have gotten out in this weather." Emma turned around and went back to his bedside.

"Are you telling me what I should and should not do, Fitzgerald?"

"No, ma'am. I wouldn't dream of it. But I don't want anything to happen to you. I would have called you afterwards though."

She sat on the edge of his bed and leaned over, very carefully and hugged her boy. "Nothing would have stopped me from being here with you. I'm glad you are going to be ok. I love you son."

"I love you too mom. Can I have a drink of water now please?" Fitz knew she needed something to take her mind off of what might have been. Water seemed like a silly thing to do the trick.

Thomas stepped up to his bed and said, "Grant men are made of sterner stuff. If you look like this, I can't wait to see what your car looks like." He laughed as his wife chastised him.

Abby waved at him from across the room. "How ya doin, Fitz?" She asked.

"I've had better days," he admitted. "All it takes is a car accident to bring Super Girl running to my bedside? I'll keep that in mind." Abby just grinned at him from where she stood.

Finally, Olivia went to the side of his bed. He very slowly and gingerly got on his side and reached out his arm. She crawled into the bed beside him, held him tightly, and cried. Fitz stroked her hair and kissed the top of her head. "Shhhhh. Don't cry, Liv."

"I was ok when I was talking to you on the phone. Even though you weren't making any sense at all and talking mumbo jumbo to me. I was ok trying to find you and your car, because you take the same route home every single day. But when I saw your car and realized how bad it could have been, it was too much. I'm so glad you are ok." She looked up at him and he used his thumb to wipe the tears from her cheeks.

"I love you." He said.

"I lub you too, babe." When he gave her a strange look she gave him a watery chuckle.

"Even though I'm not sick can you go ask one of the nursing staff for an outfit for you to wear home while you take care of me?" He grinned at her as she covered her smiling shocked mouth with her hand.

"Fitzgerald!" His mother scolded.

"Dad? A little help here?" Fitz begged.

"Emma, she's not going to look half as good as you did when you wore a nurses uniform for me." He grinned as his wife poked his belly.

"Nope! That's not what I wanted you to say, dad." Fitz scrunched up his face at the thought. He then yawned loudly and laid his head back down. "I'm going back to sleep now. He wrapped his arms around Olivia and said, "You can stay with me. I'll bet you could use a nap too."

Olivia was asleep before Fitz was. Before he dropped off he told everyone goodbye and that he would call them later on or tomorrow and thanked them for coming to be with him and Olivia. It had been an interesting evening full of surprises, and not the good kind. He was thankful that he had this woman in his arms to make it all more bearable. He was never letting her go.


	37. Feeling Things

Feeling Things

"Are you serious?" Abby screeched at work.

"Please stop yelling. I'll be deaf before we leave."

"This is why you are my best friend! This is gonna be the best weekend of my life! Well, besides the wedding. I gotta go home and pack! OHMYGOD!" She squealed.

"Abby! Stop screaming! People are looking at us. It's embarrassing."

"Who cares, Liv!" Abby turned around and grinned widely at their small captive audience. "Listen up people! Olivia and Fitz are taking Stephen and I on a pre wedding getaway! Before you go buying me something for my wedding, remember that this is what I like. Do not buy me a toaster or I will take it back." She turned back around and, still grinning, wrapped her skinny arms around her best friend. "This Labor Day weekend is gonna be so amazing! Thank you!"

Olivia chuckled at the over excited redhead. "It is gonna be really fun. I've been dying to get Fitz back on the beach. Go home and pack a bag for you and Stephen. We're leaving in two hours and I'm not going to miss the sunset tonight."

"Thanks again, Liv. We'll be at your house by four, ready to roll out. See you soon!"

Olivia had packed a bag the night before. She knew telling Abby too early would make her day hell. She would get nothing done and Olivia would have to listen to Abby whine about time moving too slow. So she had spoken with Stephen and he checked and cleared Abby's schedule for the rest of the afternoon. He agreed with her reasoning for not telling Abby too early. He was excited and thankful as well. Just not as loud about it.

Fitz stood at the back of Olivia's car, carefully stacking their bags so he would be able to see while he drove them to the beach. After Stephen and Abby parked their car in the driveway, she walked to the back of the car and randomly threw her bag on top of the perfection Fitz had created. He shook his head and watched her not break her stride as she walked to the passenger door and start up a conversation with Olivia.

Stephen stepped up and picked up his fiancé's bag and muttered, "Sorry, mate. She's a little excited about this trip. If she doesn't drive us crazy on the way down, I'll do my best to keep her out of you and Liv's hair the rest of the time."

Fitz grinned at the man. "It's ok. Abby is spunky and fun. We like having her around. We're looking forward to spending some time with the two of you."

"Thank you for the weekend, by the way. It'll be nice to get away from work and the wedding plans and the day to day shit. We really appreciate it."

"You're welcome. I promised to take Liv back to the beach before the summer ended. It'll be nice to have some male reinforcement with those two." Fitz chuckled.

"The key is drinking, mate. Lots of drinking." Stephen joked. "You still haven't gotten a car since the accident? You're uh, ok to drive, right? It's only been a couple of weeks."

"I've been cleared by my doctor to drive as long as I don't get any headaches." Fitz groaned. "The idea of sitting in a car dealership for hours while they try to sell me an overpriced car makes me tired. I know I need to just suck it up and go do it. It's gotta happen soon though because the two of us living with one car is not working out so great."

"You know, I have an old friend who sells cars just outside the city. I'd be glad to go with you. I'm sure he'd cut you a deal, since you're a friend of mine."

"Really? That would be great, Stephen. Buying a car is such a nightmare. This might actually cut some of the bullshit to a minimum and make it more bearable? Thank you."

"No problem at all." The two of them put the rest of the bags into the back of the car. Once everyone had on their seatbelts they couldn't leave fast enough.

The drive was relatively uneventful. And radio free, thankfully. The two women chatted about any and everything nonstop. There were no pit stops on the way this time, and Fitz was happy to be making good time, beating the Friday afternoon traffic.

They pulled up in front of the hotel and the two women squealed. No sooner was the car put into park, and they were jumping out and heading for the sand. The two men sat in the car and watched their women running and laughing like two little girls. Finally Stephen spoke up. "We have two options right now."

"Oh yea? And what might those be?" Fitz asked.

"Go with them and be saps while they...feel things. Or, leave them to it and go into the hotel to get a drink." The women were becoming smaller as they continued happily running towards the beach.

"I really want to do the latter. But I'm afraid if our asses aren't down there in the next five minutes we are going to be in the dog house this weekend." Fitz sighed loudly.

"I was afraid you'd say that, mate." He opened his door and stepped outside. It was a beautifully warm afternoon. Fitz stepped out too and locked the car. "Let's go feel things, for fucks sake."

"Look at it this way, Stephen. If we go feel things on the beach with them now, then they will be more likely to let us feel things later in the dark." Fitz said with raised eyebrows.

"You're a smart man, Mr. Grant. And I do believe you're right." Stephen chuckled and the two of them made their way to the warm tan sand.

The four of them had gotten their room keys and the bags had been brought up. Olivia opened the door and walked in with Fitz trailing behind her. "This is beautiful. We have a view of the ocean and a little balcony."

She slid open the glass door that led outside and stood there listening to the waves crash on the shore. Fitz came up behind her, wrapped his arms around her waist, and nuzzled in her neck. "We have a California king sized bed. Did you notice?"

"Mmmhmmm I did. What about it?" She angled her neck so he could really get in there and reached a hand back to get some of his curls.

"Well, it's going to get used a lot while we're here is all I'm saying. I have plans for you." He said suggestively.

"Really? You have my complete attention, Mr. Grant. Do tell." She played.

"Well, I was thinking that tonight we could..." The phone in their room rang loudly. "I hate whoever that is." He walked over to the little nightstand the phone was sitting on and barked into it. "Hello?"

Olivia watched him from the balcony. His face softened and smiled. Whoever it was, certainly wasn't hated at all. She couldn't wait to hear about it.

Fitz hung up the phone and said, "That was Abby. They want us to come to their room to discuss dinner plans."

Olivia walked into his arms and said, "I kinda want to stay here and hear about your plans." She kissed him lightly until he reciprocated and the kiss turned heated.

Fitz pulled away from her and said, "Unfortunately we don't have time for this right now. We aren't here for ourselves. We are here for Abby and Stephen. So let's go figure out dinner. But later, you're all mine!"

"Fine. Let's go to McDonalds." She batted her eyes at him for effect. He chuckled and grabbed her hand, leading her out the door.

Two doors down, Abby and Stephen were having second thoughts about going out too. They were having a similar struggle as their friends. "Stephen, they are going to be here any minute. We can't!" She giggled as she continued kissing him.

"Let's pretend we aren't here then." His hands were sliding up her dress as her lips were busy making a trail from his ear down to his neck.

And then there was a knock on the door.

They ignored it and continued what they had started.

Olivia banged on the door and shouted, "Get your asses up and open this door. If you're naked it's too damn bad."

When an irritated Abby finally opened the door her hair was messed up and her dress was not straight. "What the hell do you want? I'm trying to get laid, bitch."

Fitz couldn't contain his grin and reached over to pat Abby on the back. "I know your pain. Someone, who shall remain nameless," he moved his head towards Liv, "made me stop what I was doing to come over here to talk about food."

Abby grinned back at him. "We could go to McDonalds." She shrugged. Olivia laughed and then the trio was joined by Stephen, who had to make adjustments to himself before he could be around other people.

"We're not going to McDonalds. We are going to eat dinner like civilized people." He informed them.

"Is that a hickey on your neck, Stephen?" Fitz asked.

"Dammit, Abby!" He walked away to look in the mirror while the others laughed.

"Civilized people my ass." Fitz said laughing.

Stephen poked his head out from the bathroom, pointed a finger at Fitz, and said, "What was all that shit about male reinforcement?" Two female heads turned in his direction, but Fitz said nothing.

Dinner turned out to be a nice place up the street on the beach. The four of them ordered seafood and ate while they enjoyed each other's company. It was a nice way to spend the first evening together. The men argued over the bill while Abby watched, being thoroughly entertained, until Olivia snatched it out of Stephen's hand and gave her credit card to the server.

"So what do you two want to do tomorrow? The sky's the limit." Olivia said.

Stephen looked at Abby and they grinned at each other. "We wanna go parasailing. Do you two want to go with us?"

"Absolutely not!" Fitz said with authority in his voice. Olivia chuckled at his reply and touched his curls.

"So we'll go do that, while the two of you...go do each other." Abby grinned. "My only request for this weekend is that we go dancing tomorrow night! Please say we can."

Fitz looked at Olivia and they smiled at each other.

"What am I missing? Do not tell me that you have a sex story that has to do with going dancing?" She looked back and forth between Olivia and Fitz. The two of them pecked lips and continued smiling. "Someone hasn't been sharing stories lately. We'll get to that on Tuesday. Yvonne will help me get it out of you."

"No talk about work or co-workers while we are away this weekend." She took a gulp of her wine and snuggled closer to Fitz in their booth. "So. The two of you are going parasailing tomorrow. We'll probably go down to the beach for a while. We might find something to get into. Who knows? But there will be dancing tomorrow night!"

Everyone lifted their drinks and clinked glasses together. "Let's go back to the hotel. I need to talk to Stephen about wedding stuff."

Olivia and Fitz slid out of their booth and she said to him, "I'm pretty sure that's code for sex."

"Then I think we should go talk about...wedding stuff too." He winked at her.

Saturday was another warm day. The eighty degree weather felt good on Olivia's skin as she and Fitz walked hand in hand to the water to enjoy some beach time. Stephen and Abby had excitedly left after brunch to go parasailing and Olivia intended to enjoy some relaxing time with Fitz.

Once they were settled on the golden sand, Olivia looked to her right at her handsome guy. He was laying on his back, shirt off, face pointed towards the sun, quietly soaking up the rays. His middle finger looked just like the rest of them as his hand laid palm down on the towel he was laying on. But on the other side Olivia knew there was a scar on it from being cut open and then being stitched up from the accident. The scary knot that he had gotten on his head from being slammed into the telephone pole had gone away after a few days. Fitz's speech had returned to its normal sarcastic self almost immediately.

After they had gotten home from the hospital, he had slept like the dead for a few days. Olivia had made countless calls to his doctor, who assured her this was normal and part of the healing process. She remembered tip toeing into their room and poking him one afternoon to make sure he was in fact still breathing. He had shot her a lethal glare for waking him up, which made her laugh. At least he was still alive.

The man who had hit Fitz's car worked the night shift. He had been drinking most of the day until an hour before he left his house when he passed out. He had woken up in a hurry to get there and didn't realize he had failed to turn his headlights on. Until a cop pulled him over for it in the storm, after he had hit Fitz. The officer did a breathalyzer test on him and found his blood alcohol level beyond the legal limit and arrested him. While he was being booked he admitted to hitting another car, but not stopping.

Fitz had been lucky. It could have been so much worse. He could have been paralyzed. Or worse. She physically shook those dark feelings off and smiled. She was thankful that he was here and whole and hers. She reached over and pushed his curl off his forehead. He squinted his eyes open and looked over in her direction and grabbed her hand. "What are you thinking so loudly about?"

She wasn't going to tell him where her thoughts had taken her. "Oh, just that you're going to need a haircut before the wedding. The curls are getting a little out of control."

"I thought you liked my curls a little longer?"

"If they get much longer, you're going to look like the Forest Gump who ran across America. That's not an attractive look for you." She chuckled.

He ran his hand through them. "Yea, you're right. I'll do that one day next week." He closed his eyes and returned his face toward the sun again. "Are you ready to go dancing tonight?"

"That depends." She flirted. "Am I supposed to know who you are tonight?"

He turned his head and gave her a lopsided grin. "Do you want to know me tonight?"

Olivia leaned closer to his face. "I'd like to know you right now, but we're in public and there are kids out here."

"And what would you do to me if we were out here all alone?" He started nibbling up her arm.

"The list is very long, very detailed, and very energetic." She said as their faces moved even closer together.

"Just give me one item from this very long energetic list. And don't leave out any details." Fitz said as he put his hand on her cheek.

He was going in for a kiss when they both barely registered a warning voice, "WATCH OUT!" A red frisbee landed on Olivia's chest jolting them both out of the sexy moment and causing them to jump. A boy of about ten years old came to them and said, "Sorry about that. My brother can't throw it very good yet."

Olivia and Fitz looked over at a younger version of the brunette boy standing in front of them. He looked to be about six years old and a little bit embarrassed. Fitz waved at him. "That's ok. Here ya go," he said as he plucked the frisbee off of Olivia, letting his finger quickly and unnoticeably graze her breast. "I'm Fitz." He said as he stuck his hand out to the boy.

The kid stuck his hand out and shook the guys hand. "I'm Oliver. You can come throw it with us if you wanna?"

Apparently that was all the invitation Fitz needed. He pecked Olivia lips once, said "I'll be back," and jumped up to go throw the red disc with the boys. She was left smiling on her towel, watching the three males playing on the sand, wondering why she had been worried about him in the first place? He was perfect. Besides, everyone has scars.

Olivia walked out of the bathroom of their hotel room, fresh from her shower. She was wearing the red dress Fitz had bought for her the last time they went dancing but didn't wear. He was laying on the bed with his hand behind his head absently flipping through the channels of the television. When she stepped out and he realized what she was wearing, his mouth fell open.

His eyes roamed all over her smoking hot body covered in the tiny red material. He licked his lips and held out his index finger and made a circular motion with it, indicating he wanted her to turn around for him. She raised one eyebrow at him but obliged him. She heard him groan satisfactorily followed by a rustling sound. She quickly turned around and he was standing right there in front of her with hungry eyes.

"Can I help you?" She giggled.

"I believe you can." He wiggled his eyebrows up and down and put his hands on her barely covered ass. He pulled her close and grabbed her hand, putting it on his growing crotch. "I really need your help with this." Olivia massaged him through the dress pants he had on until he grabbed her hand and reluctantly pulled it away. "I hate it when we can't finish what we start. Later though. That's a promise."

After dinner, and hearing about Stephen and Abby's much less interesting tale of parasailing than their own had been, the four of them grabbed a taxi to an open air bar further up the beach. The music was good and there was a decent sized crowd. Not too many people, but enough to be fun. They found a table, ordered drinks, and people watched for a bit in between conversation.

A song started up and Stephen grinned wickedly at Abby over his glass. He stood up and reached his hand out to her. "Yes! Come on, Red. We HAVE to." She giggled at him and eagerly got to her feet, grabbing his hand as they moved to the middle of the floor where several others were dancing.

Fitz looked at Olivia and asked, "What was that all about?"

Olivia watched her friends being utterly ridiculous for all to see. "This is the first song they ever danced to together. They were both severely impaired at the time and it was painful to watch. The night ended with them having sex in the back of her car in the parking lot. Sometimes they reenact it, if the mood strikes."

The two of them watched as Stephen dipped Abby low, planted a kiss between her breasts, and brought her back up, red hair flying everywhere, so their bodies were flush against each other. Abby's laughter could be heard throughout the establishment and slowly all eyes turned in their direction to watch the crazy sight before them. She grabbed his ass pulling him even closer to her while he kissed her neck. It looked like something that ended up on the cutting room floor of Dirty Dancing.

Fitz stood up and held out his hand to Olivia. "I think we need to go learn this one. Are you with me?"

She smirked at his playfulness and said, "Always."

Once Abby and Stephen realized what their friends were trying to do, they slowed their moves down and tried to teach it to them. It was futile though because they couldn't stop laughing through it. Or keep their hands off each other. But Olivia and Fitz got the jist of it and came up with their own rendition. The other patrons had lost interest by this point but the four of them were having a great time and didn't care.

They all went back to their table for liquid refreshment and to catch their breaths after their display. There was a lot of relaxed laughter between the four of them as the music continued to play. The salty breeze coming from the beach was almost as intoxicating as the drinks. It felt good on their skin as both couples held hands.

A slow song came on and Olivia and Fitz both silently stood up and went to dance. His arms went around her tiny waist while hers went around his neck and into his hair. They smiled at each other and he leaned in closer for a kiss. Olivia tilted her head and felt his tongue slowly push into her mouth to dance with hers. She sighed contentedly and pulled him closer. His lips were enjoying the contact with her fuller ones and he pulled her bottom one between his own to suck on it.

Their hands were no longer where they had started out at. Instead they were freely roaming the other's backsides. Olivia pulled her lips away from his as the song ended and looked into his stormy blue eyes. He was breathing heavy and never looked sexier to her. "Thank you for the trip to the beach."

He leaned down and kissed her again, grabbing her ass in the process. "There are a lot more interesting ways you can thank me than that, I'm sure."

"Why don't you tell me one way. And don't leave out any details." She grinned at him, throwing his words back at him.

Another song started up and Fitz spun her around so her back was against his chest. He leaned down and ran his tongue up the column on her neck until he reached her ear. He whispered, "I'll show you when we get back to our room. My tongue is going to lick every inch of your skin. Does that work for you?"

Olivia was dizzy with lust for this man. She decided that they would be leaving sooner than whatever time Fitz had planned. She would just use whatever she could to make him see that they needed to go. Since they were on the dance floor, and her back was up against his front she would use that. She started moving to the rhythm of the music while grinding against his body.

He was quick to catch on to what she was doing. Fitz put a hand on her waist and encouraged her movements by pulling her ass closer to his front so there was no room between them. His other hand went around the front of her body and stayed dangerously low on her flat stomach. He moved perfectly in sync with her body.

Olivia reached a hand up behind her, searching for the damp curls at the nape of his neck. She heard him murmur his approval in her neck between kisses he put there and felt empowered to do more. She put her hand on top of the one he had on her stomach and linked their fingers together. "You are so damned sexy. Are you ready to go? I really need to get you naked."

She stopped dancing, turned in his arms, and kissed him. "That took way too long for you to decide."

"Mmmmm. I'm sorry but..."

"Uh uh. Don't be sorry. Just take me to the room so you can take me in the room. I really need to get you naked too." She admitted in a breathy voice.

"What about Abby and Stephen though? We need to make sure they make it back." Fitz said between more kisses.

"They left ten minutes ago. Besides, they are grown. I need to feel you on top of me. And under me. And behind me."

Fitz took her hand, paid their bill, and led her outside. He pushed her up against the side of the building and ravaged her mouth while his hands wandered all over her body. He wondered if he would ever stop wanting her? He didn't think it was possible. His body always wanted to be near hers. Even if it wasn't sex, just having her around him was everything. He never wanted that to change.

"We need a cab, Liv." He said in a low voice between kisses.

Olivia reluctantly tore her lips from his and pulled out her phone from her purse. Fitz dipped his head to her neck and licked and sucked on the exposed skin there as he squeezed her ass. He didn't know if they would make it to the hotel room at this rate. "Yes, this is Olivia Pope. I need a cab at..." She looked up at the sign on the bar. "The Sand Bar." She groaned in response to what Fitz's mouth was doing to her. "As fast as possible please."

Fitz chuckled in her neck and then went back to what he was doing.

Olivia ended the call, dropped her phone in her bag, grabbed a handful of his ass, and found his lips once more. It was crazy to want him like this all the time. He pulled his mouth away from hers and she whined at the loss of his lips, so he came right back to them. Olivia moaned appreciatively into his skilled mouth and wished he was naked. She loved the heat their relationship brought out in each other.

Fitz's mouth tore from hers and started traveling down her body. It was dark outside and since their last trip to the beach, he was turned on by being open in the outside with her and giving her what she wanted. The noises she was making was all the proof he needed. He stopped long enough to take a peek around for people walking in or out of the bar. Not a soul in sight.

He took that as an opportunity to give her some more. He pulled her away from the building and the zipped down slightly on the back of her dress. Checking one more time for people, he peeled one side of her dress away, freeing one of her perfect breasts. He dragged his tongue across her nipple and pulled his head back letting the warm breeze blow on it. He watched it harden in the dim glow of the bar lights and then latched onto it sucking hard. Olivia was having a hard time standing up at this point.

A car pulled up in front of the bar and Olivia dragged herself out of the ecstasy she was feeling to see if it was the cab. It was. She did not want Fitz to stop what he was doing right now, but knew they had to go. "Ooooh, Fitz. Babe. The taxi is here. We...ohmygod." She couldn't talk because her breathing was labored. She took a step back from him, leaning up against the building, trying to breathe.

Fitz gave her an annoyed look. "Whadya do that for?"

"The taxi is here. I need you naked. On a bed. As soon as humanly possible! Zip me up please." Olivia turned around and held her hair up. Fitz stepped up to her and ran his hands up the back of her legs, up over her ass, to the zipper. He pulled it up and planted a kiss on her neck.

They got into the back of the cab, sitting ridiculously close to each other. The cab driver turned in his seat to ask, "Where to?" But the question died on his lips as he recognized his passengers. It was the same horny crazy for each other couple he had almost driven off the side of the road recently. "How about the two of you behave back there so none of us die tonight?"

Olivia and Fitz looked at each other mischievously and made no promises.


	38. Goodbye and Hello

**I have no excuse. I was at the beach for a work conference very similar to the one you are about to read about. That's where the inspiration came from. If parts of it are boring, I apologize. I am half way done with Thursdays installment, so YAY. And I'm working on the following chapter too. I hope you all have a great week, and as always, thank you for reading**

Goodbye and Hello

Sex. It could be used as a diversion. For making up. For feeling closer to someone you love. For getting to know someone new. For scratching an itch. For releasing stress. For blissful enjoyment. Or any other various number of things.

But at this moment, it was being used as a way to say goodbye. For holding on a little longer. For hating the departure that was dreaded and inevitable in a few short hours. For saying 'I love you' as many times as possible while the act lasted. For reminding each other what is and what would be again once they were back together after an extended time apart.

It was Sunday afternoon and Fitz was leaving for Chicago in a few hours to attend a conference. It was an annual nationwide event that thousands of professionals in the food service industry had been invited to. The event showcased new kitchen equipment, chefs showing new cooking methods, as well as foods that vendors displayed in hopes that the attendees would try, and eventually take back into their own establishments. The conference lasted four days in whichever city hosted it and Fitz went every year. He was excited for his first time in the windy city.

This was the first time they would be away from each other for more than the typical work day hours. Neither one of them was looking forward to being separated from the other. Neither one of them wanted the moment they were in to end because they would be forced to get up, get dressed, and go to the airport. So they held onto each other a little longer under the sheet. And gave themselves to each other in a way that only they could.

"I'm going to miss you so much," Olivia whined as she wrapped her arms a little tighter around him.

"I'll miss you more." Fitz said breathlessly. He was currently on top of her, but that had changed so many times since they gotten into bed he lost count. He tried to keep his weight off of her but it had been no use. Olivia wasn't having any space between them right now and she had pulled him down until his long lean body covered her smaller one completely.

He had set a slow pace this afternoon, trying to drag it out as long as possible without missing his flight. He pushed into her completely, enjoying the feeling of connecting with her like this. He planted kisses on her heated skin as his body moved in and out of hers. He had already built her up to explosion twice and would be happy if he could get one more out of her before he himself exploded. But she was in a chatty mood right now and he understood how she was feeling.

"You know that's impossible, right?" She was keeping the lazy pace with him and didn't want to let him go. "There's no way you could miss me more than I'll miss you." Olivia looked into his beautiful blue eyes that were so full of love for her. There was no hair to push back off his forehead since he had gotten his hair cut recently. She missed the longer curls. "You promise you'll call and..."

Fitz captured her lips in a heated kiss sliding his tongue into her mouth as he slid himself back into her. He broke the kiss and said, "And skype. I promise. It's just a few days. It'll go by really fast." He pulled slowly out of her again.

She closed her eyes and arched her back as he pushed back inside her heat. He was killing her with this incredible pace. After getting her thoughts back she whispered in a worried tone, "I don't know if I can be here without you for four days?" She turned her head as a tear fell from her eye.

Fitz put his finger under her chin and directed her head back to facing him. He wiped the tear with the pad of his thumb and kissed her sweetly as he pulled back out of her. "You did just fine without me for much longer than four days before we met. We're going to talk all the time. It won't even feel like I'm gone."

"But that was different. I didn't know you then. Now you've spoiled me to having you around every day." Another tear fell from her eye. "And I don't want to go back to life without you."

Fitz chuckled at her. "I'm not leaving you for good. Just four days. Just think of the positives to me not being around. No extra laundry. No picking up after me. No waiting for me to get home so we can have dinner. And no one bugging you for sex."

Olivia pretended to think all of that over. "Those are very good points. No one hogging the remote control. No one telling me I can't stand on his side of the work space. Maybe I'll rearrange the closet. Some of your stuff needs to be gone through and gotten rid of anyways."

Fitz reached down and tickled her sides until she shrieked. "No throwing any of my clothes out, woman! No standing on my side of that room!"

"What are you gonna do about it from Chicago? Nothing." She said with a triumphant smile.

"Maybe not after I'm gone. But I can do plenty right now." He moved his hips faster and faster, successfully shutting her smart mouth up. She was still talking now, but it was less claiming what she would do once he was gone and more 'just like that', 'faster', and 'ohmygod'. She griped his shoulders hard and her fingernails left little crescents on them. He felt like a genius and kept up the faster pace, feeling her getting closer to her climax. He would most definitely miss this over the next four days.

A little more swiveling of his hips and Olivia fell apart beautifully under him. While she tried to figure out how to breathe without gasping for air, he continued pummeling in and out of her body at lightning speed until he himself fell off the edge of the world into a blissful abyss.

Their goodbye at the airport was tear filled one for Olivia. She hugged him tightly and reminded him again about his promise to call her when he got into his hotel room. "Have fun. Be safe. I love you." She told him.

He held her close and almost changed his mind about going. Until she lovingly shoved him away from herself. "I love you too. And I'll bring you back something pretty. I promise. Maybe even shoes." He teased.

"You'd better! Call me later, babe. I love you." She watched him go through the line past the airline desk and disappear. She wiped her eyes and turned to leave. It would go fast, she promised herself. Stephen was probably not going to get laid while Fitz was gone because she was going to have Abby over. She was coming up with a plan to accomplish that when she felt two hands grab her from behind. "Hey!" She yelled loudly slapping at them.

"How far have you gotten in your plot to have Abby come spend the night tonight?" Fitz chuckled.

"Fitz! Go get on the plane!"

"I'm going. I just wanted to be the last one to say I love you." He pecked her lips once and walked away.

"I love you too!" She yelled at his back with a huge smile.

"I can't hear you!" He shouted without turning around.

Fitz called her when he landed to let her know he had arrived safely. He already missed her but wouldn't say it on the phone. He didn't want to upset her. She had already conned Abby into coming over for the night and he was relieved that she wouldn't be alone.

He checked into the hotel and made his way to the elevator. As he waited for the elevator to slowly make its way down to the ground floor, Fitz heard a familiar female voice behind him. He stood there and tried to remember who it belonged to. And then it hit him. Grace Pilkington. Talk about a blast from the past.

Grace Pilkington was a sweet, petite, southern girl who Fitz had met in his last semester of college. Grace had been a free spirit, always eager to try new things and meet new people. She never met a stranger and Fitz supposed her southern charm had a lot to do with that.

He remembered the day she strolled into class. She had brown hair that lay perfectly straight down the middle of her back and huge blue eyes. She was barely five feet tall. But she had a warm personality and everyone liked her. She sat next to him in the lecture hall and asked to borrow a pen. Fitz had given her one and the two of them chatted quietly while they took notes.

They had gone for coffee after class to talk and get to know each other. She wanted to become a top rated chef and was ready to get out into the world and try her hand at it. Fitz knew she would stop at nothing until she reached her goal. He admired Grace for her vision. It was Grace whom Fitz first voiced his dream of owning his own bakery someday. He didn't think she would take it seriously, but Grace became his biggest cheerleader. She had been an amazing friend during that las semester but they had lost touch over the years since.

Back then he had been working his way up for a man who owned a bakery, in hopes of taking it over one day. It wasn't exactly the dream he had for himself. Grace encouraged him to turn his passion for baking into starting a business of his own. Starting out from scratch seemed to be an unreachable dream for Fitz at the time, but looking at what he had now, he knew he had made the right decision.

Grace had brought out Fitz's fun side. She had been full of energy and always up for an adventure. He wondered if she remembered him? Probably not. He looked up at the digital numbers on the elevator, and saw that it was about to be here. One floor to go.

When it did finally stop with a PING, Fitz waited while the people inside the elevator stepped out, and then he walked in. Turning to the panel on the left, he hit the number 5 button so it would stop on his floor. It was then he heard, "Fitzgerald Grant? Is that you?"

Yup. She remembered him.

He looked over and saw her getting on the elevator. He smiled at her and said, "Grace?"

"Yes, Lord! It's me. C'mere and give me a hug!" The two of them embraced. "What are the chances of me running in to you in Chicago? What on earth are you doing here?"

"I'm here for the convention in the hotel. What are you doing here?" He asked.

"Same thing! I just got in this morning. You look exactly like you did in college. I swear you haven't aged at all." She gushed.

They stood side by side talking to each other, the elevator to themselves. "Me? Apparently you have found the fountain of youth. You look just the way I remember you."

"You were born in the wrong state, Fitzgerald. You could easily pass for a southern gentleman. Saying all the right things a girl likes to hear. Are you staying all week for the convention? I'd love to catch up with you one night if you're free?" She asked.

"Yea, I'm here until Thursday night. It would be great to catch up. I'd love to hear about what you've been up to since college." The elevator dinged on the fourth floor and he held the door open while she stepped off. "I'm sure I'll run into you at some point at the convention tomorrow. We can check our schedules and go from there if you'd like?"

"That sounds like a plan to me. I'll see you soon." The doors closed and Fitz found himself alone on the elevator once again.

Early the next day Fitz took a shower, got dressed, and ate the breakfast he had delivered up to his room. He called Olivia but got her voicemail. He left a detailed sexy message and knew she would be calling him back before long. He couldn't wait.

He left his room and hopped on the elevator to the first floor. He walked around until he started seeing signs for the event. He followed those until he found the place to register. Fitz gave the woman behind the counter his name and was given a badge, a bag, and directions to the convention hall. He looped the badge around his neck and made his way into the huge decorated room full of chairs.

The open sessions were always boring in Fitz's opinion. Welcome to Chicago, we're glad you're here, bla bla bla. It lasted for an hour with introductions and speeches from people most of them had never heard of. But opening and closing session were necessary and part of the experience.

Then everyone was released to the exhibit floor. It looked like a huge warehouse that was filled with vendors and chefs from all around the nation. They had equipment, food, and gadgets to show anyone interested enough to stop at their booth to ask questions. Some were small business owners. Some were major corporations. All wanted your business and attention.

After thirty minutes of walking around Fitz heard his phone ring. He pulled it out of his pocket as he stepped away from the booth he was looking at. It was Olivia. "Hello, Miss Pope. How are you this morning?"

"Not good. I bored Abby to death with all my Fitz talk last night. And then we had coffee before we left for work and I started crying because her coffee isn't as good as yours..."

"Awwww, babe."

"And then I was fine. I pulled myself together and drove to work. I had to tell the girls the story about our sex in the bathroom dancing night..."

"Had to huh?" He interrupted with a chuckle.

"I saw that I had missed a call from you. And then you got me all wound up with your voicemail. What are you doing to me? You can't do that on day one, Fitz! We have three more days to get through."

She sounded exasperated. It was a really cute sound to his ears. "I'm sorry. Would it help to tell you that I just sat through an hour of listening to strangers talk? I hate the opening session."

Silence on the line.

"Liv?"

"No! It doesn't help. What would help is if you came home today." She whined.

"You are so hot when you beg. I promise to have you begging for something else the minute I get home." He whispered.

"You are really not helping here."

"I'm going to help you everywhere in three days." He promised quietly.

"No more sexual innuendos. I'm hanging up now. I love you."

"Love you more." He laughed.

Fitz walked around a while longer and saw some pretty interesting things. He got some ideas he thought would go over pretty well at the bakery. He found a vendor who had an edible cupcake liner and invited Fitz to try it. The liner actually tasted good. It would be fun for the kids. Or would it make them think they could eat all cupcake liners? He wasn't sure. He was still interested though and put the information given to him from the vendor into his bag.

An hour before lunch, Fitz was headed to an educational seminar. There was a list of several topics to choose from and he found himself walking to the room covering the topic of how to grow a small business. It was one that interested him even if no one else knew that he wanted to eventually open another store.

He left the room feeling empowered and a little smarter about how to go about it. Opening another location for the bakery was always in the back of his mind, and was definitely a dream for the future somewhere, but Fitz felt like he had a better idea of how to accomplish that goal now. It was a very interesting process from start to finish and he couldn't think of a step they had left out.

His stomach started rumbling and Fitz checked his program schedule. He had another seminar to choose from in a few hours and then day one would be a wrap. He decided to go to lunch at a nearby diner.

It turns out lunch was boring when you're alone in a new place. His mind went back to when he took the girls out to lunch and he smiled. To when he cooked dinner for Olivia at the bakery the night she showed up out of the blue. He missed her. He was just a little better at putting up a brave front. He wondered if she would think about coming to Chicago and spend some time with him here? He'd mention it to her when they talked later tonight.

After his last seminar for the day, Fitz went back to the hotel and collapsed on the bed. He just needed a power nap to feel refreshed. An hour later he woke up in a mild panic, not knowing where he was. He glanced over at the night stand and saw the red digital numbers on the clock. Oh yea, Chicago.

He got up, relieved himself in the bathroom, and grabbed a bottle of water from the mini fridge in his room. Although the fifth floor wasn't the penthouse, the view was still a good one and he sat on a chair near the window as he drank his water. Although he loved the annual conference, Fitz was missing Olivia. And if he felt this way after one day he knew she was a mess. He decided to call her now instead of waiting until later.

She answered with a smile in her voice on the first ring. "Hi."

He immediately smiled and forgot about the view out his window. "Hi. How has your day been?"

"It's been great." She said enthusiastically. "We had lunch catered at the office today from that amazing Mexican place I love..."

He was glad that her day had turned around.

"And then we all were told to take off after lunch but to consider it a full day's work. Plus overtime..."

Fitz scrunched up his face. Damn good perks at her job.

"And then the office had a masseuse come to my house to give all of the ladies thirty minutes on the table. Ricco has very gifted hands."

"Wait. What?"

She chuckled at him. "I would love to have thirty minutes on the table with Ricco, but my day sucks. I'm still at work and I still miss you." She whined. "I don't want to be here anymore."

Fitz lowered his voice and said, "Ricco is not allowed to touch my girl."

"He's not?" She flirted.

"He's not. Unless he wants me to kick his ass he'll keep his hands to himself."

"But he's sooooooooo good at the art of massage." She grinned into the phone.

"He can bestow his art onto someone else. You want a massage? Come to Chicago. I will rub every muscle in your tight, perfect, little body until it's humming." He was getting aroused just thinking about touching her again.

"You would give me a massage?"

"MmmmmHmmmm. I would work all those kinks out of your muscles the best way I know how. The way you are probably craving right now, if I know your body. And we both know that I know your body very well. What do you think, Miss Pope?"

Olivia was breathing hard just thinking about his magical hands on her body. "Wh...What did you say?"

Fitz grinned to himself. She was practically walking onto a plane. He just had to help her a little more. "What do you say about coming to Chicago and... getting taken care of by someone who knows your pressure points?"

"Fitz, you really don't play fair." She looked at her schedule and knew she had one meeting tomorrow that she could not move around. "I don't think I can make it. I have a meeting tomorrow that I have re-scheduled twice already. I have to be here."

"That's ok. I understand. You are a very busy, very intelligent woman. Maybe we can come visit Chicago one weekend in the spring? That would be fun?"

Olivia felt bad. She could tell he was disappointed, but it couldn't be helped. "That would be great. I bet the city is really pretty in the spring?" There was silence on the line and then she asked, "Are you gonna call me tonight? After your done for the day?"

"Of course I will." He looked at his watch and realized it was time for him to head downstairs. "I've got to go for now, Liv. I miss you. And I love you so much."

"I love you too, babe. I'll talk to you in a few hours." She said. They ended the call and she continued what she had been working on before he called.

The next day went by rather quickly for Fitz and he was grateful for it. He hoped the rest of the conference went by at the same speed. He still had two days left and while he was learning a lot, he was missing Olivia terribly. The thought of going back to New York before the conference ended was a constant thought in his mind.

He was laying on his hotel bed, waiting for room service to deliver his dinner when they finally knocked on the door. He had ordered a steak and was looking forward to eating it alone, calling Olivia, and going to bed early.

He jumped up off the bed and walked to the door. When he opened it, he wasn't greeted by room service. A smiling Olivia greeted him with a suitcase beside her. After his initial shock Fitz picked her up and spun her around right in the hall. "What the hell are you..."

Olivia silenced him by fusing her lips to his in a heated kiss. She pulled away from him and rested her forehead on his while he held her. "I had my meeting this afternoon and it went great. But I missed you too much. I had to come."

Fitz walked them into his hotel room and kicked the door with his foot. He was grinning at her, so thankful that she had come to Chicago to be with him. He pecked her lips once more and stated, "I missed you more. You have no idea."

"I'm gonna want that massage tonight." She said with a devilish smile.

"You're awfully demanding, Miss Pope." Fitz nuzzled in her neck for a moment, so thankful she was actually here with him, and then deposited her on the floor in front of him. "I think you should give me a massage. I'm the one who's full of tension. I think you should work all that out." He gave her a lopsided smile back.

"Fine. But I want something to eat first. I'm hungry." When he started pulling her to the bed she giggled and put a hand on his chest. "Food, Fitz! That kind of eating will come later."

"Fine. Let's go to McDonalds." Fitz said with sarcasm. Her following laughter was exactly what he needed to hear. It was so infectious that he joined her. "I'm really glad you're here."

There was a knock on the door and Olivia looked at Fitz. "That's room service bringing me a steak. I'll share it with you or you can call down and order whatever you want?" He offered.

"Let's share it. We don't have time to wait for a steak to cook." She grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him to her for another kiss. "I have a massage to give."

Fitz grinned at her and replied, "Yes ma'am!"


	39. Chicago

Chicago

The next morning Fitz woke up with a tiny body sprawled out across his. He looked at Olivia who was dead to the world and grinned happily. He had no idea how she was sleeping like she was but neither did he care. She was here and that was all that mattered to him. He put his arms around her and just quietly held on to her. Two days without her had been two days too many. He wasn't ever doing that again. She'd just have to come with him next year.

Today held more seminars and Fitz was bringing Olivia with him. He opted not to go to the ones after lunch so that he and Olivia could enjoy the city all afternoon. He wanted to take her out and let her pick out her own souvenir from Chicago. He'd have to get something for all the women in his life. That meant more shopping than he intended. He wasn't even upset about that. All because the woman he loved was with him and that made everything better.

After laying there for what felt like an eternity, Fitz had to pee. He tried slowly moving to transfer Olivia from his chest to the bed, but every time he moved she clung to him a little tighter. He gave up trying after a few minutes and said, "Liv? Babe? I gotta go to the bathroom. I'll be right back." She never opened her eyes but mumbled something and slid off him and resumed sleeping on the mattress.

He relieved his bladder and brushed his teeth. He peeked at her from the doorway and remembered that she owed him a massage. They never got to it last night because she attacked him like a starved animal. He would make her pay up later. He was looking forward to it.

Fitz tip toed back to the bed and crawled in beside her. She immediately crawled back on top of his chest and laid there like she had when he woke up. Fitz shook his head at her. "Aren't you uncomfortable?"

"This is my happy place. No more talking." She said with her eyes still closed.

"I thought the beach was your happy place?" He teased.

"No more talking," she chastised groggily.

"Ok. Ok." He whispered.

Thirty minutes later, as much as he hated it, Fitz knew they had to get up. Olivia was not going to like this but it had to be done. Fitz held onto her and scooched to the edge of the bed. Once he was there, he stood up with her in his arms, naked as the day they were born and carried her into the bathroom. She whined sleepily, wrapped her arms around his neck, and asked him what the hell he was doing?

Rip off the bandage Fitz, he told himself. Still holding tightly to Olivia, he turned on the shower and stepped in under the cold spray with her. He kept her away from the shower head but let the cold water run on her skin enough to piss her off.

She screamed like a banshee! "Fitz! What the hell are you doing? This water is freezing!" She sputtered.

Fitz laughed heartily and held her tighter so she couldn't get away. Boy was she trying though! "It's good for the body. Gets the blood flowing!"

"If you get my hair wet, so help me god...!"

Fitz laughed some more. "Your hair is as dry as the desert. Relax woman."

He tried to kiss her but she was not remotely interested. "We are not friends right now." She warned with a glare.

"We're not? Well that's a damn shame because I was going to take you to out to lunch this afternoon followed by some shopping. But we can stay in here if you'd rather. You owe me a massage anyway, so that works too." His face gave no indication of the humor he found in this conversation. But inside he was waiting for her sarcasm or retreat on her stance. Either way it was bound to be entertaining as hell for him.

"Why am I awake? What am I going to do while you are at the convention until noon? Has that thought entered your master plan?" She shot him a triumphant smirk.

"I thought you could go with me, smartass. But you can stay here and pout if you'd like." He put her down at the back of the shower, grabbed the small hotel soap, and began washing his body. "And when I get back from lunch and shopping I'll tell you all about it. Is that what you'd rather do?"

Shopping in Chicago would be fun. Lunch with Fitz would be a nice treat too. She didn't want to admit either of those things to him though. She knew he was feeling pretty proud of himself for coming up with a plan to not leave her out of the day. Damn him and his perfect ways. "Whatever you want to do is fine with me," she said offhandedly.

Fitz smiled into the shower head. He had her right where he wanted her. And she had unknowingly left the door open for him to get some more of what he wanted. She'd learn sooner or later. After rinsing the soap off, he turned to her and said, "I want to do this." He sank to his knees, threw one of her legs over his shoulder, and feasted on her core. The banshee screaming was back and it drove Fitz on for more.

Olivia tried to chastise herself for not choosing her words more carefully, but she couldn't form a coherent thought at the moment because of what Fitz was doing to her body. She slapped a palm on the shower wall, threw her head back, and moaned loudly. Her knees were feeling weak and she grabbed a handful of his short hair as an anchor.

He never stopped. His tongue was relentless. On a mission to drive her over the brink as loudly as he could get here there. She was chanting his name over and over as her legs started to shake. Fitz could tell that she was almost at that place. His right arm went between her legs, under her butt, and around to her hip where he held on tightly. His left hand snaked between her legs where he inserted one very long finger into her heat with a furious pace.

Olivia could no longer stand. She leaned her back up against the wall of the shower while Fitz held her. And continued to destroy her. She could only take what he was giving. She was begging him to finish her.

And then her scream pierced the steam filled room. Fitz hummed on her sensitive spot and she almost flew out of his grasp. She was still shaking from the spasms of her orgasm when Fitz planted a kiss on her lower lips and released his hold on her, leaving her to stand on her own. He went back under the spray of the shower and hummed some happy tune. He turned around to make sure she was ok and said, "So are you with me today?"

Still reeling from the damage he had caused, she looked up at him through messed up hair and heavy breathing and said, "MmmmHmmm."

"Ok then. We're leaving in thirty minutes." He stepped out of the shower, leaving Olivia alone gaping at his back.

They walked through the exhibit floor hand in hand. Fitz couldn't keep the satisfied grin off his face as the two of them stopped at booths and chatted to the vendors and chefs. Olivia was getting into the spirit of the exhibits and sometimes started up conversations with the people running the booths on Fitz's behalf. He let her ask her questions about whatever was being shown with great pride.

As they were rounding a corner, Fitz heard Grace's voice calling him from behind them. Olivia heard Fitz whisper, "I'll tell you about it later" before they turned around to face her. "Grace!' Fitz said. "I was beginning to think you were avoiding me."

Grace smiled at him and eyed Olivia as well as their joined hands.

"I'm sorry. Grace, this is Olivia Pope, my girlfriend. Liv, this is Grace Pilkington. We went to college together." Fitz explained.

The two women exchanged 'nice to meet you's'. "I'm sorry, did you say Pilkingston?" Olivia asked. "That name sounds familiar."

Fitz looked behind him in an effort to not let his rude but proud of Olivia grin be seen by the two women. He turned around as Grace sweetly replied, "Pilkington. There's no s."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Olivia apologized as she smiled as sweetly as Grace's voice.

"Grace wanted to get together one night and have dinner, but it hasn't worked out with our schedules." Fitz told Olivia.

"How about tonight?" Olivia offered. Fitz squeezed her hand a little harder but she ignored him. "Any friend of his is a friend of mine. I bet you have lots of Fitz stories? I'd love to hear them." Olivia grinned.

"I thought we were having dinner together tonight though?" Fitz asked.

"Uhhh no. You said we were having lunch together and shopping afterwards. Nothing about dinner was mentioned." Olivia replied. Served him right after his shenanigans in the shower.

"I actually had dinner plans for tonight, Liv. Remember? You owe me...dinner." He tried.

Grace knew something was up with the two of them but decided not to pry. It would be rude after all. So she just smiled and watched the chemistry between them sparkle. "We can do it some other time if you'd rather?"

"No no. I insist," Olivia offered. "It'll be fun to get to know someone from his past. Besides," she began slipping an arm around Fitz's waist, "I can treat him to dinner another night. He really loves his dinner."

Fitz choked on his chuckle and smiled at the two women. "Tonight is fine. Liv can treat me to a nightcap afterwards." He reached his hand down and patted her ass.

Olivia gave Grace her phone number so they could figure out a meeting place and time later on. The two of them told Grace goodbye and continued walking around the corner. They came to a door leading out to the hotel lobby and Fitz grabbed her hand once more and pulled her out the door behind him. She was grinning and eager with anticipation the entire time.

He looked around the lobby and found a janitor's closet. No one was paying them any attention so he pulled her inside and slammed the door. She was giggling like a kid. "What the hell, Liv? I don't want to go to dinner with her. Besides, you owe me a massage and we aren't leaving Chicago until I get it!"

"Shut up you big baby and kiss me." She demanded.

Fitz put his hands on her hips and picked her up. He set her down on top of a big box of toilet paper and ravaged her mouth. Olivia broke the kiss and moved into his neck, kissing her way down his chest. "You know, for someone so small, you sure are lippy."

Olivia pulled the front of his polo shirt up and began kissing his chest as she unbuttoned his jeans. She was making appreciative noises at his impressive chest. "Do you want to keep on whining or would you like for me to use my lippy lips on you now?"

All he could do was shake his head mutely.

"You're gonna have to be more specific, babe." She teased.

"Come on, Liv." He said.

"I dunno. That sounds a lot like whining to me. Maybe you're coming down with something? Should I call my mother to check?" She was thoroughly enjoying putting him on the spot.

Fitz shoved her hands away from the crotch of his jeans and pulled the zipper down himself. He hurriedly pulled them and his boxer briefs down his to his knees. His impressive erection sprung free and at complete attention. "You talk too much, Miss Pope. Show me what you can do with this."

Olivia raised her eyebrows accepting his challenge. She hopped off the box, squatted in front of him, and licked her lips before taking him into her mouth. She heard Fitz's sharp intake of breath while she continued to work his length. Now it was he who was moaning, cursing swiftly, and telling her he loved her. She ran her tongue over the tip of him and he grabbed a handful of her hair.

She took as much of his hard length as she could possibly get down her throat and continued the action repeatedly while she held onto his ass. He was getting loud with his moans of ecstasy and she briefly wondered if anyone would come bursting through the door to see what was going on? The thought of it was kind of a thrill as she kept sucking him while he moved his hips with her mouth. She bobbed her head faster and faster until he was barely breathing, and Olivia knew that he was trying to hold back. It was useless as she kept up the quickened pace and she eventually heard Fitz gasp, "Liv, I'm about to come" followed by "OHGOD! And ,"Fuck, babe!""

She kept the pressure on his softening member as she let it slide out of her mouth and she made sure every drop was gone. She wiped her chin and looked up at him. He had his eyes closed and appeared to be exhausted. "Welcome to the club."

"What club? What are you talking about, woman?" He said through labored breathing.

"I bet you feel like you could sleep for a few hours huh? That's exactly how I feel after you've worked me over too..."

"Let's go take a nap!" He suggested in a lust filled voice.

She chuckled at him and got in his ear to whisper. "We've got about three minutes before someone opens that door to find out who the hell is dying in here, thanks to your screaming. You can sleep later. Are you with me?"

Fitz reluctantly pulled his underwear and jeans back up and tucked, zipped, and buttoned so everything was in place. He looked at her smirking face and said, "I hate it when you throw my words back at me." He pecked her lips once, grabbed her hand, and said, "But I love it when you do what you do."

The two of them peeked out the door and when the coast was clear, walked out into the lobby. They walked thirty feet away, stood in front of the elevators, and waited. Sure enough, not long after, two guys in janitor uniforms timidly opened the door Olivia and Fitz had just been behind. He looked at her and said, "Smartass. Do you always have to be right?"

"No. But I do enjoy it when I am." She stuck her tongue out at him and they went back to their room.

It was a beautiful beginning to fall and even the wind wasn't terrible. So they started out walking. After enjoying a deep dish pizza at Lou Malnati's Fitz took Olivia for some shopping. It felt like they walked fifteen miles that afternoon. But Fitz barely noticed and never complained. They window shopped at the fancy high end stores at North Bridge. They walked around Water Tower Place and enjoyed the architecture there. And they ended their afternoon out by going to the stores at The Magnificent Mile.

Everything was so expensive, but the women in his life demanded souvenirs. So Fitz got them something to fit their personalities. Shopping for women was kinda fun if you took your time and thought about the person you are buying the gift for, Fitz decided. As for Olivia, she had chosen a pair of shoes from a store with hundreds of pairs to choose from in all colors and designs. After spending forty-five minutes in the store, Olivia had chosen the pair she wanted and Fitz paid for them. He got a kiss on the cheek for it. Olivia paid for another pair of shoes and explained to Fitz that they were for. He smiled at her thoughtfulness and agreed that it was a good idea.

They went back to their hotel room and dropped all their bags on the floor as they continued to the bed in hopes of a short nap. It had been a long but fun day and a quick snooze would definitely help. Olivia kicked off her shoes and fell facedown on the already made up bed. Fitz fell beside her on his back and Olivia was quick to lay across it as he held her close.

An hour later they woke up feeling much better and completely rested. Olivia rested her chin on his chest and reached up to touch his short curls. Fitz tucked a stray hair from her face to behind her ear and then wound his arms around her little body. They smiled at each other, completely content with where they were.

Fitz figured this was probably his last chance and suddenly his face changed from a smile to one full of pain. Olivia moved off of his chest, sat up, and quickly asked, "Fitz? What's the matter? Are you ok?"

"It hurts." He moaned.

"What hurts? Tell me where it hurts!" Olivia's hands started feeling around his body for the source of the pain. She briefly wondered if he was having a flare up from the accident he had been in a few weeks ago? "Should I call your doctor?"

Shit. She was taking this way too seriously. He had to change tactics before she killed him in a minute. "Uhh no. It's my back. It hurts a lot. I think a massage would really fix it up." He flashed her a wicked grin.

"Fitzgerald Grant! Are you kidding me right now?" She moved to the edge of the bed to get up but he grabbed her and brought her angry, fighting against him, tiny self against his chest.

"You know you love me." He said playfully. "It was all that walking today."

She refused to look at him as he laughed and held her close. Eventually Olivia began to smile even though she really didn't want to. He was so damn slick. And adorable. And he had spent the entire afternoon shopping without a single complaint. She supposed she could give him a massage. She thought back to what the two days apart had been like and remembered that she really had missed him. A massage was such a small thing. "Fine. Get your clothes off before I change my mind."

Fitz moved like a blur stripping as fast as possible and laid on his stomach back on the bed. He couldn't believe she had said yes. He was better than he thought.

Olivia went to one of her bags and picked up the scented oil she had bought earlier that afternoon while Fitz had been distracted. He wasn't the only one who was on his game this trip. She took off her own clothes except for her lace panties and climbed onto his back, straddling him.

She poured a tiny amount of oil on her palm and rubbed them together. Once they were lightly coated she poured a little more on his back between his shoulders and began rubbing it in. She started at his shoulders and kneaded the skin and muscles there. He really was tight. Fitz groaned in satisfaction under her. She smiled to herself as she continued to rub his muscles until they were like putty.

Once his shoulders were relaxed, Olivia went to work on his back. She rubbed and massaged him and added more oil as needed. He felt boneless under her and she wondered if he had fallen asleep more than once. But every so often he would groan and she knew that he was fully awake.

When she got his lower back loosened up, she slid down his legs and rubbed his ass. She waited for him to complain, but of course he didn't. After playing there for a few minutes she went down his legs, rubbing as she went. When she felt that he was completely limbered up, she made her way up to his back again and laid on top of him. She asked, "Do you feel better now?"

Fitz rolled to his side and neatly dumped her onto the bed. He covered her body with his and pecked her lips. "That was amazing. Why haven't you given me a massage before now?"

She gave him a bland stare. "Because you never asked."

"Thank you. I really do feel much better." He leaned down and touched his lips to hers and deepened the kiss. Olivia had been waiting for this and wound her hands around his neck and felt his very gifted tongue slide into her mouth. She hummed in appreciation.

And then Fitz pried her wrists off his neck and said, "Now it's my turn to give you a massage." He flipped her over onto her back and saw the oil sitting on the nightstand. He picked it up and did exactly what she had done to him. He rubbed her muscles from her shoulders down to her feet.

Olivia was in heaven. Why didn't they do this more often? This man had almost no flaws at all. Truth be told, it was kind of turning her on feeling his hands on her skin, rubbing out all of the soreness and tension from her body. Not to mention the fact that he was naked behind her. "Babe?"

"Hmmm?" Fitz said absently as he rubbed her calves.

"I want...Ohmygod that feels so good right there." She moaned.

"It did when you did it to me too. I thought you'd appreciate it too. What is it you want?" He had been holding her bent leg but he abruptly dropped it onto the bed and crawled over her legs. "I bet I can guess."

"No you're never gonna gue..."

The breath was suddenly taken from her lungs as Fitz grabbed her hips and pulled her to her knees, effectively putting her ass into the air in front of him. He reached over her body to the nightstand and picked up the bottle of oil and rubbed it on himself.

"Fitz!"

"Quiet." He commanded. He pulled her legs apart and settled his body between them. He lined himself up and pushed himself all the way into her. He gave her a minute to adjust and leaned over her back to whisper, "I wanted you the entire time you were loosening me up." Fitz repeatedly hammered in and out of her without slowing down while she screamed and moaned and bit on the pillow under her head.

The sound of skin slapping skin was echoing throughout their room along with his grunts and her heavy breathing. Olivia's phone began to ring from the night stand. "Don't you dare answer that phone, Liv." Fitz warned.

She reached for it to see who it was. "It's Grace." She told Fitz. "I have to answer it. You need to stop for a minute."

"I'll slow down but I'm not stopping. And we are not going to dinner with her. Try me."

Olivia looked over her shoulder and noticed the daring smirk he wore. He had indeed slowed down to a snail's pace. She didn't know which felt better? She grabbed her phone, pushed a button, and said, "Hello?" Fitz pushed back into her and she hit the mute button so she could groan in satisfaction.

"Olivia, this is Grace. I'm sorry to bother the two of you but I wanted to see where you two would like to go to dinner tonight and what time we should meet up?"

"Hi, Grace. Ummmm. We would love to go to dinner with you..." Fitz went back to hammering in and out of her and reached around to rub vicious circles on her most sensitive spot. She closed her eyes tightly and gritted her teeth. She hated him for this. But he was so very good at it. Olivia tried hard to keep her voice even and said, "but we probably won't be able to make it tonight. I'm not feeling very well." Olivia lied. Fitz moved his hand and went back to the slower pace.

"Oh, that's terrible. Can I do anything to help? Grace offered.

"NO. THANK. YOU!" Olivia said overexcitedly through gritted teeth. "Fitz is giving me some...medicine right now." She heard him whisper 'hell yea I am' behind her and she rolled her eyes. "I'm sure I'll be fine soon. But thank you for understanding. Maybe next time."

"Ok, Olivia. Have a good evening. Feel better soon. Bye." Grace chirped.

Olivia didn't say anything else. She ended the call and threw her phone across the room and went back to concentrating on what he was doing to her. Fitz smacked her ass once and said, "That's my girl." And he went back to taking her hard and fast.

The next night at the closing session multiple awards were given out for various reasons. The speaker announced the last award as everyone watched, mostly bored. "The last award of the night is presented by someone all of you have heard of. He's been a highly successful pastry chef for years. He's most known for his television show 'The Ace of Cakes'…"

"Holy shit!" Fitz whispered in a reverent tone.

"What's the matter?" Liv asked in a panic.

"His restaurant Charm City Cakes in Baltimore has been featured on the Food Network..."

"Holy shit!" Fitz repeated.

"What is it?" Liv asked.

"Please welcome, Duff Goldman."

The room erupted in thunderous applause, with Fitz leading the way. Olivia looked over at him and wondered why he was fangirling so hard over this bald guy?

Duff stood up to the microphone and said, "Thank you very much." The applause died down some and he spoke again. "Thank you. I love coming to these conferences whenever I can so I can keep up with the newest trends in cooking and baking. It's so exciting to see how far the industry has come from when I started out. It really is amazing. This last award is now officially dubbed The Duff Goldman award. It is an award to recognize the person who thinks outside the box with their company. To someone who goes the extra mile in a super creative way to involve others in the process of our craft." He pulled out the piece of paper from his shirt pocket and said, "The very first Duff Goldman Award goes to Fitzgerald Grant and his bakery The Sweet Spot in New York."

Olivia's mouth gaped open. Holy shit indeed! This was Fitz's hero saying his name. Saying he had won an award named for his hero. The very first one too! Holy shit! She looked over at Fitz. He was pale and looked like he was about to pass out. She nudged him but he didn't move. "Fitz!"

"Is Fitzgerald Grant in here by chance?" Duff asked into the microphone as he scanned the room for a someone stepping out of an isle to come and claim it.

"Fitz!" she said louder. "Get your ass up there and get your award! I'm going to follow you up there and take a picture of the two of you."

He nodded mutely and they made their way up to the stage. "There he is, ladies and gentlemen." The clapping was back and Fitz stopped walking.

"Move your legs or you will never see me naked again." She whispered behind him.

That seemed to do the trick. He walked up on the stage and stared at Duff. "Fitzgerald won this award for his creative idea to allow kids of all ages to decorate cupcakes inside his bakery on the Fourth of July. It was a huge hit by kids and parents. Congratulations, Fitz. May I call you Fitz?"

Fitz just nodded and smiled. A professional took their picture as Duff presented Fitz with the award and shook his hand. Liv snapped a few on her phone. She was so proud of him.

The thunderous applause returned as Fitz walked off the stage and returned to his seat with Olivia. "Holy shit! That was awesome! I'm so proud of you!"

"Did that just happen? Did Duff Goldman just shake my hand? Holy shit!" Fitz exclaimed with the biggest smile she had ever seen on his face. "Best trip ever!" He said, putting his arm around Olivia while clinging to his award.


	40. Out With A Purpose

Out With A Purpose

"I'm getting married tomorrow night!" Abby said and then covered her mouth with her hand. "That came out sounding like I'm shocked. I'm not shocked. I'm super pumped and ready to be Stephen's wife. Abby Finch." She said with a smile.

Liv chuckled at her. "It's normal to be nervous about your wedding. It doesn't mean you aren't ready or don't want to go through with it. But let me just say this. If you don't want to go through with it, just say the word and I'll get you out of it. It won't be a problem."

"No, Liv. I've waited for this day for so long that I just can't believe he wants to marry ME! I mean, I know I'm a good person and fun and all that. But he's Stephen Finch. He is everything. Why the hell does he want to marry me?"

"Because you're sweet, thoughtful, tough, loyal, and amazing in every way. And he sees that and wants all of those qualities in his wife. He is lucky to have you. He's marrying Abby Whelan. You are going to make him a better man."

Abby grabbed Olivia and hugged her close. "Thanks, Liv. He's a lucky man, isn't he?"

"He really is. Before we go out and enjoy your last night of freedom I have something for you. Something I picked up while I was in Chicago. If you don't like them it won't hurt my feelings. It's no big deal at all.

"Stop rambling, Liv and give me the damn thing." Abby chuckled. Olivia passed a box to Abby and watched her eyes light up like a kid on Christmas morning. "Did you get me shoes from this store? Please say there isn't a vibrator in this very famous shoe store box. I mean, that would be great but shoes from here would be so much better!"

"Stop rambling and open the damn thing, Abby." Liv grinned. She closed her eyes and prepared herself for the ear piercing screech that was about to cut through the air, but nothing happened. Olivia opened one eye and looked at her friend. Abby was cradling one of the shoes with a big smile on her face. "Do you like them? I know you probably already have shoes for the wedding but..."

"They are perfect, Liv." Abby interrupted. "So beautiful too. Thank you."

"Well, let's try them on to make sure they fit before you go getting sappy on me. I figured they could be your something new?" Olivia picked up the other shoe from the box and sat down on the floor beside Abby's feet. She pulled off the shoe currently on her foot and slid the new one on. "Wow."

Abby stood up and looked down at her foot. "Ohmygod, Liv. I feel like Cinderella. Thank you so much!" The two friends hugged.

"Well, Cinderella. It's time you get your ass up, put your peasant shoes back on, and let's go celebrate! The girls out in my living room are probably wondering if we have changed our minds. Let's go!"

"Hell yes! Let's do this!" Olivia slipped the sash around Abby's shoulder that said 'Bride' on it. And the two of them walked into the kitchen to find a few of the women from the office, as well as Yvonne, Quinn, and Paige waiting for them. All of them had a glass of wine in their hand and one was immediately passed to Olivia and Abby.

"Tonight the ladies and I have agreed to do things a little differently, Abby. We have come up with a scavenger hunt for you. Inside our pockets each of us has a piece of paper with something we wrote for you. It could be something to get. It could be a dare. It could be something you have to do. But you have to complete all of them before we get to Club Attitude in the city. The quicker you get them done, the quicker we get to the club. Are you game?"

A smirk tugged the corners of Abby's mouth. "This is unexpected. And exciting. And I can't wait to see what crazy things you twisted women have come up with. Hell yea I'm game!"

Olivia held her glass up and said, "Tonight is our night, ladies. We are going out with a purpose. And that purpose is to help Abby enjoy every moment of her single lady status. So down your drinks and shake it off because there is a lot more booze to come! To Abby!"

"To Abby" They all repeated loudly, followed by cheers, clinked glasses, and silence as they emptied their them. Everyone gathered up their purses and walked outside and got onto the party bus.

Across town the men were gathered at Stephen and Abby's house. Fitz, Charlie, Rob, Jason, and Scott, Stephen's brother were all sitting down at the kitchen table playing poker and drinking beer. Since Michael's departure Fitz and the guys had asked Stephen to be their fourth at the regular monthly games. He had fit in quite well with their banter, and was excellent at the game. He usually won, which was not something Fitz had counted on. The only problem had been understanding what Stephen said sometimes because of his British accent. But it provided lots of laughs for the guys when they mocked him.

"Why are we playing poker instead of tucking one dollar bills into strippers G-strings?" Rob asked.

"Yea? Why are we still here?" Stephen asked holding a fistful of cards.

"I thought you wanted to play?" Fit said with a confused look on his face.

"I never said that, mate." Stephen said to Fitz.

One by one the men threw their cards on the table in disgust. "We've wasted enough time tonight. Now let's go out and get screwed up!" Charlie said. There was loud cheering of agreement from all the males in the room.

Fitz went to the window and said, "The limo is here. Let's move our asses, boys!"

Rob gave an impressed whistle. "Oooooooh! A limo. Good thinking. No designated driver tonight! I call shotgun!" He called as he ran out the door.

Scott, Stephen's brother looked at Fitz and asked, "He does know that it's more fun to sit in the back, right? I don't even think you're allowed to sit up front with the driver. Are you?"

Fitz chuckled and slapped Scott on the back as they made their way to the door. "He's an idiot. But he's our idiot. I hope he does sit up front. That way we won't have to listen to his bullshit." The men took their seats in the back and the driver took off toward the destination already given to him.

"Where are we going?" Charlie asked looking at anything and everything in the car.

"Don't worry about it. Grab that bottle and pour us each a shot." Fitz suggested.

Abby asked Olivia for the paper in her pocket from her seat on the bus and read it. "Really, Liv? Is that all? This is gonna be a piece of cake." She asked the driver to pull over as Olivia laughed at her.

They got off the bus behind Abby and watched her walk up to a small crowd of twenty something men and women talking outside a restaurant. "Hey. I'm sorry for interrupting your night. I know you don't know me. And I'm about to ask you something ridiculous, but bear with me. I'm having my bachelorette party right now." The crowd clapped for her and she grinned at them. "These crazy friends of mine won't take me to the club until I have completed every item on my scavenger hunt. This is my first item. No offense to any of you beautiful women, but it has to be a guy who helps me out."

"It depends on what you gotta do." One of the women said.

"I have to take a shot off of a stranger's neck." Abby was pretty sure they were going to send her on her way.

"Is that all? Jeff will help you out. Right, Jeff?" The younger female said.

Abby eyed Jeff who was all smiles and nodded his head. "Sure. Be glad to. It's no big deal at all. Where do you wanna do this?"

"You are all welcome to come to have a drink on our party bus while I borrow Jeff?" Abby offered. When they agreed everyone got back on the bus.

"I can't believe she's doing this." Olivia said to Yvonne with a chuckle. "I'm going to take pictures of everything she has to do. For posterity." The two women laughed. "And blackmail."

Jeff put the lime between his smiling teeth while Paige salted his shoulder. Abby had never done this before but she was determined to not show it. "Thank you for doing this. I'm really sorry for pulling you into it." She said nervously.

"Don't worry about it. I've never had a redhead do a body shot off me, so it's all good." He winked at her and she immediately calmed down. "Just don't bump my head." He warned.

"I'll try really hard not to." Abby grinned at him. She downed the shot, made a face, licked the salt off his shoulder, and took the lime out of his mouth while everyone watched and cheered. "One down. Five to go." She chuckled.

The younger group got off the bus and the driver got back on the road. "That was insane! I can't believe you just did that!" Paige said. "I thought I was the crazy one in the family. Clearly I underestimated you."

"Clearly," Abby said with an edge of sarcasm. "Yours is probably the worst one, so give it to me so I can get it over with." Abby read it. Twice. This one was going to be a challenge. She looked at her cousin with questioning eyes. "How the hell am I supposed to accomplish this?"

"That's not my problem. I can't wait to see you try though." Paige got up from her seat beside Abby, poured herself a drink, and sat down alone.

Yvonne saw the look on Abby's face and took the seat next to her. "What the hell did that bitch do now? I'm sorry. I know she's your cousin." She waited a beat and then continued. "I lied. I'm not sorry. She's a bitch. What has she done? I'll go kick her ass if you want me to!"

Abby grinned at her partner in crime and passed the small crumpled up paper at her. Yvonne read it and Abby said, "I gotta do all of them before we can go to the club. This one is next. How am I supposed to do this? It can't be done."

Yvonne looked at Abby with a confused look on her face. "Of course it can. You just took what looked like your very first body shot off a stranger. And how did you get it done? You just asked. This is the same thing. Just get off the bus and ask another random guy. It's not that difficult. I'll even help."

"You're right. It's totally doable. How are you gonna help though?" Abby asked with genuine interest.

"Just leave it to me. I gotchu, Red." Yvonne patted Abby's hand and asked the bus driver to find a club and pull over. When he gave her an are-you-kidding-me look she nodded and said, "Do it!"

Twenty minutes later, and a hug from a sweet guy named Ben, Abby was the proud owner of his boxers. It had taken some embarrassing pleading to the unbelieving crowd but he had stepped forward and offered to help out. She hoped that was the most difficult challenge because it had been by far the most embarrassing one to accomplish. Abby took another drink and felt the edge of her nerves fading away.

"Which one of you is next? I need to be dancing right now! Gimme yours, Julie. You like me, right?" She said full of hope. Abby read the dare and gave her co-worker a bland stare. "That's it? Thank you, Julie. I'm gonna put in for a raise for you on Monday."

"Whaddya gotta do now?" Yvonne slurred on a giggle.

"You're cute when you drink." Abby giggled. "I've got to find a man named Stephen and kiss him. Where am I gonna find someone named Stephen?"

"You two scare me when your drunk and huddled together," Olivia admitted, as she plopped down on the seat in front of them. "What's next? Measuring a random guys penis and calling it Fred?" The three of them burst into laughter.

Abby snorted, wiped a tear from her cheek, and said, "I have to kiss a guy named Stephen."

"Pull the bus over please, Commander." Yvonne said with a salute.

"He's not a Commander, you idiot." Abby resumed laughing.

"Get it together, you sloppy bitch. You have to go out and find 'nother Stephen. Just get off the bus calling his name. Someone is gonna answer you. Probly. Maybe." Yvonne said laughing.

"She might be drunk, but that's a good plan. Let's try it." As they got to the front of the bus, the driver said in an annoyed voice, "For future reference, my name isn't Commander. It's Stephen."

Abby grabbed his cheeks and kissed him loudly on the mouth as all of the other women cheered loudly. "His name is Stephen, you crazy bitches!" As she walked back to her seat everyone gave her a high five and laughed with her. The driver didn't know what just happened, but he quietly got back on the road and made no further corrections that evening.

The last two were relatively easier in the grand scheme of things. Abby had to get a piggy back ride from someone and convince a guy to take his shirt off. They all appreciated the latter and the poor guy was more embarrassed than any of the women as they gave whistles of appreciation and tried to touch his body. But he was a good sport about it and now all of the items were done, so they headed off towards the club with wild cheers and another drink.

The guys had gone to a strip club but the only one fully enjoying it was Rob. He made enough noise for the six of them. Jason looked extremely uncomfortable and averted his eyes from the gyrating women in front of him. Charlie looked at them but was terrified that Quinn would find out and that was enough to keep him on edge. Fitz was not remotely interested in being in this place, but took them there under the assumption that it was what Stephen wanted.

Scott looked at the women but wasn't impressed. He could dance better than any of them and would really rather be dancing at a club or bar. He touched his brother on the shoulder and leaned in to excitedly say, "Are you enjoying yourself?"

Stephen decided that he hated this part of the marriage ritual. He did not want to ogle mostly naked females and then give them money under the guise of loving it. But he knew this was what American men liked to do on bachelor parties. He could fake it for their sakes. "Yea! This is brill! I can't wait to get in the back and get a lap dance."

"You're lying." Scott accurately accused, pointing his finger at his older brother.

"No, I'm not." Stephen looked up at the brunette currently working the red pole on stage and downed his drink. "She's really talented."

"The fact that you pointed out her talent instead of her body tells me you are not happy here." Scott looked around at the unhappy men. "It's ok. The only one enjoying this is the idiot. Are you ready to leave yet?"

"Yes please!" Stephen said thankfully.

"Let's get the hell out of here gentlemen." Scott announced to the little group.

"What? Why?" Rob asked as he snapped his neck over his shoulder. All of the men were standing up and Fitz gladly threw bills on the table for their drinks.

"Because we are getting jealous of watching them dance. Don't you want to get out on a dance floor and be able to move your body up against someone?" Fitz said with raised eyebrows.

Scott raised his glass to Fitz and gave him an appreciative look before emptying his glass of the brown liquid inside. "Let's go find some women we can dance with. Flirt with. And hit on shamelessly. Besides, Rob, you're never gonna get laid by any of them." He pointed toward the stage. "Let's go increase your odds, mate."

That seemed to do the trick. A smirk crossed Rob's lips and he nodded. "I like the way you think, Scott! Let's go guys!"

The women were already happily settled in to the VIP section of their destination. The music was amazing. The crowd was huge. And the drinks were flowing freely. The seven women were drinking and laughing and eyeing the hell out of a hot guy on the dance floor, whom they had spent some time coming up with a nickname for.

"Oooooh. Let's call him Drill Sargent." Yvonne suggested with a lust filled voice as she eyed him from head to toe. "I bet his uses his drill in all kinds of really creative ways." The other women laughed. A few clapped in appreciation.

"How about Vagina Destroyer?" Paige said eyeing him as she sipped her drink. "He looks like he's packin' and could do some damage if he wanted to." The other women exchanged looks silently with gaping mouths.

"How about we all get up off our asses and go dance?" Olivia suggested. She grabbed Abby's hand and the rest followed them. "You know she's crazy, right? And apparently she needs to get laid." The two of them giggled as they walked to the lights and thumping loud music.

The women were oblivious to the attention they were drawing as they danced together on the middle of the floor. Even the hot guy they all had been previously ogling came a little closer to try to dance with them. They were a fun spectacle to behold and everyone wanted to be near them.

After going back to their table to get another drink, the women stood up and Olivia noticed the men walking in the front door of the club. She wondered what they were doing here but said nothing to the others. This night could get more interesting after all. A wicked thought came to her mind and Olivia told Abby she needed to go to the bathroom and would be right back. Instead she went to the DJ and put in a special request.

Fifteen minutes later, Abby and Stephen's song started playing. Abby stopped dancing right in the middle of the floor, looked at Olivia, and whined, "I wish Stephen was here."

Two big hands found their way around Abby's waist and before she could turn around a familiar British voice said, "Come on, Beautiful. Let's show them how to dance."

Olivia watched the two of them with a huge smile on her face. They were going to make each other so happy for the next seventy years. Where the crowd had once pushed up on them, now they gave space to watch Abby and Stephen do their ridiculous dance.

A sexy baritone voice eased into Olivia's neck and said, "I have missed you so much tonight." Fitz wrapped his arms around her and said, "I hope I never have to do another bachelor party again. It was awful."

Olivia turned in his arms and put hers around his neck. "Ours was really fun. I can't wait to show you the pictures of the things we made Abby do." She giggled.

"You shouldn't have been mean to Super Girl. She's the bride." They both looked over at the happy couple and smiled at them. "She looks really happy right now though." He leaned down to kiss his girl and leaned his forehead on hers. "Why aren't you surprised to see me?"

She grinned at him. "I saw you and the gang walking in the door. It's why I requested this stupid song for them."

"Awww. You're such a romantic at heart. You know, I don't want to stay with Stephen tonight. I'd much rather be at home doing things to you." He dipped his head and nipped at the skin on her neck.

"Don't start something you can't possibly finish, Mr. Grant." She warned.

He raised an eyebrow at her and said in a dangerously low voice, "I have had you in the bathroom here, Miss Pope. It cost me almost two hundred bucks, but it was money well spent. I'm not above throwing you over my shoulder and doing it again."

She looked at him. She wanted to say 'you wouldn't dare' but Olivia knew he most definitely would. And he would thoroughly enjoy it too. Hell, so would she. But she wasn't going to bait him into doing it. Just when she was about to make a perfect sarcastic reply, Abby and Stephen bumped into them noisily.

Abby wrapped her arms around Olivia and said, "Stephen is taking me home for a little while. He has to give me my wedding gift. Kay?" She giggled.

"That's definitely code for sex," she said looking at Fitz. "How are you two going to get there, Abby? Neither one of you is fit to drive."

"An uber is coming for us. I'll be back at your house before you know it" Abby tried to snap her fingers but she didn't have to coordination to do it correctly.

"Fine. Be safe. Stay together. I love you both."

"Liv, you are gonna make a great Girl Scout leader one day." Abby said in complete seriousness. "C'mon, Stephen. Less go. I need sex."

Fitz and Olivia laughed as they watched their two friends leave. "Girl Scouts have badges. I think I would like to discuss the possibility of earning a new badge from my leader." Fitz said with a smirk.

"Shut up and stick your tongue in my mouth"

"Yea, ma'am."

Several hours later Fitz and Olivia were pathetic to watch separate and everyone sleepily yelled at them to get into the vehicles they had arrived in. After one last kiss goodbye, both parties left the club and made their way home. Finally everyone was where they were supposed to be for the night. Or so they thought...


	41. Finch4Life

**Thank you to everyone who follows, favorites, and/or reviews this story. You guys are amazing and so encouraging to me. I appreciate every single one of you!**

#Finch4Life

Fitz opened his eyes and wished he hadn't been cursed with a body that woke up early no matter what day of the week it was. The room was still spinning, but not at the ferocious speed it had been when he fell down on the couch the night before. He blinked his eyes very slowly, wishing he could go back to sleep. A few more unconscious hours would be a welcome treat.

He continued to lay on the couch and listened for any sounds. He heard nothing. Charlie, Rob, and Jason had been taken home after the festivities last night by the limo driver. Scott was asleep in the guest bedroom, after he and Stephen had carried him in there last night. The house was perfectly quiet at the early hour.

His eyes felt like they had sand in them. His tongue felt like he had slept with a fistful of cotton balls in his mouth. And his breath probably smelled like a dead donkey's ass. He sat up on the couch. That was a mistake. The spinning got faster and his head was throbbing. He yawned loudly and when he opened his eyes he jumped when he saw someone walk by him.

Stephen was up and headed toward the kitchen. Hopefully in search of Tylenol and the ingredients for a hangover cure. He still had on his dress shirt, though unbuttoned. He also had on boxers and one sock. He was not really walking as much as shuffling. Every few steps he would make a moaning sound. He looked like a zombie and probably felt like one too.

"What are you doing up so early?" Fitz quietly asked Stephen's back.

"Why are you screaming at me?" Stephen moaned, still shuffling. "I had to pee. I didn't want to get up but had no choice. I have the bladder of a four year old."

Fitz put his head in his hands. "It probably has more to do with the fact that we drank a shit ton of alcohol last night than your baby bladder." Fitz said wearily.

"My head feels like it's going to explode off my shoulders." Stephen whined. "What the hell has Abby done with the Tylenol? That damned woman is constantly moving things around."

"Mine feels the same way. Hurry up and find it. I need some too."

"I'll find the meds, you make breakfast."

"Stephen, I had a really good time with you last night, but I'm not cooking you breakfast. This isn't that kind of relationship, man." Fitz joked.

"But you cook breakfast for a living! I let you sleep on my couch." He was grasping at straws and they both knew it. And then he used guilt on his friend. "And it's my wedding day."

"Fine. But I'm not cooking anything until my head feels a little better. Yanno, you're a smart man for planning a night wedding." Fitz mumbled from the couch.

Stephen finally found the damned bottle, made his way over to the couch, and plopped down beside Fitz. He screwed the lid off the plastic bottle and sprinkled some into Fitz's hand. He popped a few into his own mouth and swallowed them. "You know that was all Abby's doing. The time of the wedding. I would have been screwed if this thing started at noon. I'm glad she's smarter than I am when it comes to things like this."

"What time did she finally leave here?" Fitz asked with a smile on his face.

"Uhhh, around four. That woman can move anything she wants to. She has the stamina of a twenty year old. I'm exhausted and I'm going back to bed. Breakfast is over rated. Brunch is a much better idea." Stephen said as he stood up, tilted to the left, and went back into his bedroom.

Fitz was left on his own and since going back to sleep wasn't going to happen, he got up and made some coffee. As it brewed he went to brush his teeth and then looked for his phone. Eventually he found it in between the couch cushions but it only had five percent of battery life left. He opened his overnight bag and plugged the charger into the wall in the kitchen and attached his phone to it.

When the coffee was done, he poured a steaming mug and sent Olivia a text.

Good morning, babe. I hope you are sleeping. I can't wait to see you later. I love you xoxo

He set the phone down, went outside to sit in one of the chair on the porch, and concentrated on the warm brown bliss in his cup. There was a chill in the early morning air, but all was quiet. Except for the birds who had gotten an early start to their day too. By the time Fitz was on the second cup of coffee he was feeling more like himself and less like a hobo who had been run over by a mack truck.

As he was emptying his cup, a car pulled into the driveway. He looked to see who it was and a huge smile split his face. He got up quickly and jogged to the familiar car, opening the door, and pulled her out. Pulled her close to his chest. He held her for several moments and asked, "I don't really care what the answer is, but what brings you to this neck of the woods this early in the morning?"

"I came to get Abby. She never came home last night." Olivia said into his chest.

Fitz pulled her away from himself and with a knit brow said, "Abby isn't here, Liv."

"What are you talking about? Of course she's here. She left the club with Stephen last night. We all saw her." She said impatiently.

"I've already spoken to Stephen this morning. He said she went back to your house at four a.m. Are you sure you didn't just overlook her at the house?" He was starting to freak out a little but was trying to keep level headed.

"It's kinda hard to miss a skinny redhead in our house, Fitz." She started walking up the few steps to the front door. "I know she's here. And I'm going to kick her ass for making me worry."

They walked back the master bedroom door and looked at each other, wondering who would knock. At the moment Olivia raised her hand to do so, they heard giggling. She shot Fitz a furious look and banged on the door. "Get your ass out here right now, Abby or I'm coming in there in five seconds!"

Fitz gave her a proud look and Olivia started counting. Scurrying could be heard from the bedroom and Fitz and Olivia chuckled at the warp speed they must be throwing clothes on. When she got to four the door opened and Abby presented herself. "Hi." Stephen was standing behind her grinning like a fool.

"Do not 'hi' me. That's his thing." Olivia jerked a thumb in Fitz's direction and he grinned at her. "You told me you were coming back to my house last night. You didn't. And you didn't text or call to let me know that you weren't."

Fitz took in Abby's appearance and tried not to laugh. She had haphazardly thrown on a green cami, clearly without checking herself before she opened the door, because one of her boobs was poking out the side. Her hair was sticking up everywhere. She looked like she had stuck her finger in a light socket. The remnants of her smeared make up looked like she had made out with a drunken clown.

Fitz focused on Stephen and avoided the exposed boob at all costs. "You told me she went home at four o'clock? Why would you lie to me? You two are grown adults. I wouldn't care if she was still here. It's her damned house too. You asked me to cook brunch. I'm wounded." He grinned at the other man.

"Abby was getting hungry." Stephen grinned back. "But I wanted...breakfast in bed first."

Abby bit her lip and grinned at the two of them but had no explanation. Olivia huffed and reached over to stuff the boob back into her top. "You know you're ridiculous, right?"

"Sorry, Liv. I wanted to stay with him last night. I know you can relate to that." She said wiggling her eyebrows up and down and nodding in Fitz's direction. The four of them laughed heartily until a door was opened behind them.

Scott opened the door and was stark naked. He rubbed his eyes and said, "All of you need to shut the hell up! This is not an appropriate hour for a family reunion. It's barely eight o'clock. Damn!" He turned around and went back in the guest bedroom, giving everyone a view of his perfect ass.

Olivia snapped her head in Abby's direction with raised eyebrows and wide eyes. Abby grinned and looked in Stephen's direction. "You can't have that." Fitz said to Olivia, patting her ass.

"Party pooper." Olivia teased. "Sooooo we have a really busy day today, Abs. We have to get mani pedis. Get our hair done. Get to the church. Keep Paige in line. Get our dresses on. Get pictures taken. Lots to do."

"Fine, bitch. This is why I stayed here last night. I bet our first appointment is before noon, huh?" Abby said blandly.

"Well, yes. We have a list to stick to and we can't wait until the last minute to do it all. Go get dressed and let's go. I'll wait for you outside. Hurry up." Olivia warned.

"I'm sorry Abby made you worry, but I'm really glad you came over here to find her." He pecked her lips once and smiled at her. "I can't wait to see you in your dress. And I really can't wait to take it off of you later."

Olivia reached up to play with the curls at his nape and smiled right back at him. "I can't wait to have sex with you while you have your tux still on."

His eyes got darker and he made a 'mmmmm' sound in his throat. "You need to go or I'm going to scoop you up, carry you into the house, kick Scott and his perfect ass out of that room, and have my way with you."

"It is a really nice ass isn't it." She chuckled.

"Shut up." He laughed. When the front door slammed shut Fitz turned around and said, "Perfect timing, Abby." He kissed her cheek and wished her a happy wedding day. Fitz then turned to Olivia and kissed her once more. "I'll see you soon, Miss Pope."

"Looking forward to it, Mr. Grant." She winked at him and the two women drove away.

Hours later Abby, Paige, and Olivia arrived at the church with fresh manicures, pedicures, and hairstyles. They were carrying their dresses in zip up bags over their shoulders. Pictures had been taken earlier, but more had to be taken after the ceremony. They were an hour early and headed to the bridal room to hang up their dresses and get settled in before the ceremony started.

The three women had just sat down when someone knocked on the door. Olivia opened it to find Mrs. Wheelan standing on the other side. She ushered Abby's mom into the room and she and Paige quietly left to give mother and daughter a moment together.

The groom and groomsmen were walking down the hall headed to the grooms room when they spotted the two women. Fitz took in her appearance and leaned down to kiss her. He was stopped by Olivia's hand on his chest followed by a very firm, "NO! You'll mess up my make-up!"

"It's a peck, Liv. C'mon." Fitz whined.

"Guys, take him away and talk some sense into him. Please."

"Hey, Scott." Paige flirted.

"Uhh hey, Paige." Scott was not remotely interested in this girl but was trying to be polite.

"Save a dance for me at the reception, ok?" Olivia rolled her eyes dramatically and Fitz grinned at her.

"Sure. We'd better get going. The countdown is on." Scott said walking away with a brisk pace.

Abby's dad came down the hall just then and Paige whispered, "We need to get back in that room or we will be entertaining every damn person who comes this way. Heyyy, Uncle Tyler." She chirped when he got within earshot, hugging the man.

"Have the two of you seen my wife around here?" The older man asked.

"She's in there with the bride." Olivia pointed to the closed door behind them. He knocked softly and entered, closing it behind him.

"Where can we get a drink around here?" Paige asked in a bored tone.

"Nowhere. We're in a church. You'll have to wait for the reception." Olivia was going to snap if this girl kept her attitude up.

"Oh. Ok. I'll be back in a bit then." Paige chirped.

Olivia knew she was probably headed out to find booze somewhere and should probably stop her. But right now she was glad to see her leave. She shrugged her shoulders and turned around in the hall, smacking into Fitz's broad chest. "You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"But that would have messed up your make-up and we can't have that." He smirked.

She chuckled at him and rolled her eyes. "You can be so annoying sometimes." Still, she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him close.

"Where did the crazy girl go off to?" He asked over her head.

"Who knows? Is Scott as freaked out by her as he looked?"

"Oh yea! And then some. He is steering clear of that one tonight."

"I really need to go back in there for Abby."

"Well, that's why I'm here. Stephen sent me to give her a message."

She pulled away from him and looked into his eyes. "What's the message?"

"Nice try, Miss Pope. But no can do. I am under strict orders to give the message to the bride." He kissed her nose before she could swat him away. Fitz knocked on the bridal room and was told to come in. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but your groom has sent me with a message for you."

Abby smiled at him and said, "Let's hear it, pretty boy."

Fitz pulled out a piece of paper from his shirt pocket and read it to her.

Is it seven o'clock yet? I can't wait to be your husband.

Abby looked expectantly at Fitz, thinking there was more to it. When he chuckled at her she said, "You tell fancy pants that we've got" she looked at her watch. "Thirty minutes to go. He'd better not be late." Abby kissed Fitz on the cheek and said, "Tell him that I love him too."

"But do I have to call him fancy pants?" Fitz grimaced.

"You do! Now get out of here. I'm about to put my dress on."

"Oh! I almost forgot." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a penny. "I grabbed this from the register at the bakery last week. I sorted through all of them to find the oldest one. This one is stamped 1968. Unless you already have your something old, I figured you could use this?"

Abby smiled at him, took the penny out of his hand, and placed it into one of the shoes Olivia had given her. She pulled him in for a hug and whispered something in his ear that only he could hear. Fitz looked over at Olivia and smiled. Abby kissed his cheek and said, "Thank you for thinking of me. You really are one in a million. If I wasn't about to get married, and you weren't in love with my best friend, I'd..."

"Ok, it's time for Fitz to go." Olivia chimed in.

"Relax, Liv. I'm just kidding. He's not my type. He's barely adorable. Besides, I like my men with a British accent. And ones who take less time to get ready than me."

"Wait a minute! Abby, look at your face!" Fitz said dramatically.

"What's wrong with my face?" She asked in horror, rushing to the mirror in the adjoining bathroom to see what the problem was.

Fitz smirked at Olivia and loudly said, "Nothing. It's perfect. You kissed me and your make-up didn't dissolve. It's a miracle."

"Get out!" Olivia giggled and shoved him out the door and closed it in his face.

Abby's parents excused themselves and Olivia walked into the bathroom to talk to her friend. "What did you say to Fitz just now?"

Abby smiled dreamily and said, "You're so nosey. It was a private moment between the two of us. Let's get dressed so I can get married to fancy pants."

"Where the hell is Paige? We've got to walk down the aisle in ten minutes and she isn't even here to put her dress on! Why did I let her be in my wedding party?" Abby was pacing furiously.

Olivia picked up her phone to call Fitz to go look for her when the door opened swiftly and Paige walked in, reeking of alcohol. "Let's get married, bitches!" She sang.

Abby wrung her hands repeatedly while Olivia snapped to action. "We're so glad you could join us, Paige. Let's get your dress on so we can start the show." She smiled at the younger woman to keep from breaking her neck. She whispered to Abby, "It's going to be fine. Don't worry about her on your wedding day. I'll handle her until the ceremony is over. Then I'm done with her crazy ass."

The three women walked down to the closed doors of the sanctuary and lined up with their groomsmen. Abby at the back of the line with her father. Fitz couldn't keep his eyes off of his girl. "You look absolutely stunning, babe. Seriously. I'm the luckiest guy here."

"I think the groom would disagree with you there." She offered.

"Fancy pants? I adore Abby but there is no contest. I can't wait to see you in a white...negligee." He quickly blurted out. He needed to stop talking.

Olivia looped her arm through his and whispered, "Oh yea? I think we can arrange that."

The music started and Paige and Scott started the trip down the aisle. Then Fitz and Olivia. She caught her mother taking pictures of them as they went and smiled. The doors closed once Fitz and Olivia were at the front of the church with the other attendants and then the wedding march began. Abby and her dad slowly walked down the aisle to a grinning Stephen.

The ceremony itself was absolutely beautiful. The music was perfect. Their vows were touching. The kiss was a little much, but that was Abby and Stephen. The minister announced "I present to you Stephen and Abby Finch," and the clapping and tears started back up for almost everyone. Abby was all smiles as she looped her arms through her husbands and they walked down the aisle and out the door to wait for the rest of the wedding party, family, and friends to congratulate them.

The photographer took lots of pictures of the wedding party. Of his family. Of her family. Of both families together. Of the groom with the bridesmaids. Of the bride with the groomsmen. When Stephen was about to tell him to get lost for a bit, he told them, "I think I've got everything. I'll be taking pictures at the reception, but I think I've got all the formal ones you want."

"Thank God," Abby said. She pulled Stephen to her and just held him close to her. "How ya doin' husband?"

"So much better now that you are my wife. I love you so much, Abby. I don't know why you said yes to marrying me, but I'm so glad that you did." He carefully pecked her smiling lips as her arms went around his neck.

"I love you back. We're freaking married!" She screeched.

"Save your voice, beautiful. You're gonna need it later." He winked at Abby and led her to the reception where everyone was waiting for their grand entrance.

Everyone at the reception was patiently waiting for the happy couple to come in and join them in the merriment. When they did enter holding hands and all smiles, everyone cheered loudly, making their smiles even bigger. Friends and family snapped pictures with the couple using their phones and posting them to social media immediately using the hashtag #Finch4Life.

The music began to play something soft and romantic and Stephen led his new bride to the center of the room to dance their first as husband and wife. They swayed closely as people watched and took more pictures. "I really can't believe that you finally married me." Abby admitted.

Stephen held her hand delicately while they moved in a slow circle and gave her a look. "I have been waiting for you to realize that you could do so much better than me."

She smiled at him and said, "There is no one better for me than you. It's your job to remind me every single day."

He returned the smile and said, "As Fitz would say, 'yes ma'am." She chuckled at him and then he brought his head closer to her and placed a ghost of a kiss across her lips. "I love you so much, beautiful. It's your job to remember that every single day."

After their dance they went into a corner of the room to drink their flutes of champagne. They intertwined their arms and took sips as flashes went off from every direction. With her free hand, Abby tilted the end of his glass up making him empty it. He grinned and did likewise to hers.

They went to their seats and Scott stood up to give his best man toast. He stood up, looking very handsome in his tux with a raised flute full of something bubbly. "Good evening, everyone. Before I begin, I just want to apologize for not being an experienced public speaker. Please be kind. My name is Scott Finch and I am the groom's brother. Where do I start with Stephen? Stephen is intelligent, handsome, funny, gener...gener...Sorry, mate. I can't read your chicken scratch."

The crowd laughed.

"Stephen has always been a good older brother to me. A great example of what a man should be. When we were growing up he was always there to protect me. And somehow he always figured out how to let me be my own person at the same time too. He never suffocated me, you know? I have great faith that he will be the same way with you, Abby. He will always be there for you, to protect you if you need it while allowing you to fail sometimes too because you're going to make your own mistakes. But Stephen will be there to help you put things back to rights because that's the kind of man he is. Welcome to the family, Abby. I always wanted a sister. Love you both."

Everyone clinked glasses around their tables and took a drink while wiping happy tears from their eyes.

Paige was up next. But she was nowhere to be found. Abby looked at Olivia from across the room and her friend smiled back at her and stood up from her chair. "I know you were all expecting someone else to give this toast, but I'll just have to fill in because the maid of honor isn't available right now." She raised her glass to the happy couple and smiled at them. "For anyone who may not know me, my name is Olivia Pope and I am Abby's best friend. I want to say thank you to Mr. and Mrs. Wheelan and Mr. And Mrs. Finch for making today truly a beautiful one for the bride and groom as well as the rest of us.

I have known Abby for a very long time. She and I met in college and became inseparable. I thought she was funny, brave, and honest to a fault. That caused some problems when asking her opinion on what I was wearing. But I valued those qualities in her and learned to adapt them into my own life little by little. Stephen and Abby are the real deal. And anyone who has seen the insane dance they came up with to their song can testify to that. They have the kind of love that we all aspire to have full of mutual admiration, trust, humor, and sacrifice. I love you both and am so very happy you've found your happily ever after in each other. Please join me in a toast to Stephen and Abby."

Cake cutting was going to be interesting, Olivia thought to herself. Stephen stood beside Abby and held her hand as the cut the first two pieces from the two tier masterpiece. "I could have made a better one," Fitz mumbled.

"Ok. Settle down. You didn't know them when it was time to order cake. Maybe you can make their baby's first birthday cake if they ever have kids?" She offered. He smiled as the thought took root in his mind. Men were so easy to placate sometimes.

Abby and Stephen each held a tiny piece of cake in their hands and were giving each other mischievous looks. "Stephen, I swear, if you get cake all over my face it's going to end badly for you."

"Right back atcha, wife." He said with a smirk and raised eyebrows.

They both very slowly moved the cake near the other's mouth, seeming to do things the proper way. But of course, at the last minute, Abby smeared it on his face. The crows laughed and took more pictures. Stephen grabbed Abby and pulled her close to him and kissed her, effectively smearing the cake on her face too. She grabbed a handful of it and threw it at him. And of course he returned the favor.

The DJ chose that moment to announce that it was time for the father daughter dance. Stephen laughed heartily as Abby looked down the front of her dress with horror filled wide eyes. "You're gonna pay for that later, husband." She grinned.

"Promise?" He laughed kissing her again.

Abby's dad held her at a distance while they danced but both were laughing. Fitz led his mom out on the dance floor and Olivia, not one to be left out, grabbed her own father's hand to dance too. One by one, couples started dancing to the sweet song that played for Abby and her father.

When the song ended Fitz left his mother with his dad and went to get Olivia. She was talking to her father. Nathaniel was listening to what his daughter was saying, but caught Fitz's eye and smiled at him. Olivia turned around and Fitz asked, "Can I have this dance, Miss Pope?"

She turned back to her father and asked, "Do you think it's safe, daddy?"

"Not at all," he chuckled. "But you two kids go have fun anyway."

Fitz shook Nathaniel's hand and led his girl onto the dance floor. "You're going to have to behave now." He put his right hand on her waist while she put her left one on his shoulder and grinned at him. He held her tiny right hand in his larger left one and they began to move together. "It was a beautiful ceremony."

"It really was. Everything was perfect." She sighed as she laid her head on his shoulder.

"This is perfect," he corrected. "You look stunning. In case I haven't told you?"

"Thank you. You are super sexy in a tux. I've spent more time looking at you than the happy couple tonight. You in a tux is a serious turn on for me." She admitted.

Keeping an eye on the crowd and noticing no one was within ear shot, Fitz whispered, "Really? You should see me out of one." He wiggled his eyebrows at her until she laughed.

"I plan to do just that as soon as we get home, Mr. Grant." She said seductively.

"It's a date then. Miss Pope." He leaned down and kissed her lips in a way that had her wrapping her arms around his neck and craving more. Fitz pulled away from her and said, "The song is over and it looks like the bride and groom are about to leave."

She pecked his lips once more and reluctantly went to line up with the other women so Abby could throw the bouquet. This was the moment Paige decided to show up. A few moments earlier had been the moment Olivia had sent someone to go release her drunk ass from the room she had been locked in. She was sputtering mad about missing everything. Olivia smiled at Abby and watched her laugh. Once she was under control, Abby turned around and threw the beautiful flowers over her shoulder. She turned around quickly to see Olivia catch it with a stunned look on her face. Paige stomped off somewhere. Fitz was all smiles and shot Abby a thumbs up. She winked at him.

The crowd then gathered to watch Stephen and Abby leave for their honeymoon. Everyone had a handful of rose petals that they threw at them as they ran grinning through the crowd. Abby stopped in front of Olivia and Fitz and hugged them together. "Love you guys" was all she said before taking Stephen's hand again and jumping into the waiting car.

Fitz held Olivia close to his side as they watched the car drive away. He kissed her temple and said, "Let's go home and finally mess up your make-up." She chuckled into his side.


	42. Communication

_I know I say it all the time, but I can't say thank you enough to anyone reading, reviewing, following, or favoriting this story. You guys are awesome!_

Communication

Sometimes you get a phone call that makes you grin from ear to ear.

I'm pregnant. We won lottery. I love you. We're getting married.

Sometimes you get a phone call that fills your heart with dread.

There's been an accident. It's cancer. We're getting a divorce. She didn't make it.

On this particular day, Fitz got one of the latter. Although the news wasn't nearly as devastating.

He was at the bakery in the middle of the afternoon having a staff meeting. He was filling them in on the new things he had learned and had seen at the convention. Things he wanted to implement. Things he wanted to change. He had all of his staff gathered around in the back room with the exception of the girl working the counter.

"First of all, I want say thank you to those of you who had to come in on your off day for this meeting. Especially on a Friday when the weekend is about to start." There had been some bitching and moaning, but that was to be expected. Staff meetings were boring and usually covered things that could be sent via email. Fitz liked the personal touch. "You're all getting paid to be here, and I know that doesn't matter to most of you, but I appreciate it."

"When I was gone to Chicago, I saw some truly great things that the industry is coming out with and I wanted to share some of them with you. There are some things that I want to slowly start using here to see if they will go over with our customers."

"Like what?" Someone asked.

"Good question. Who asked that?" Fitz asked scanning the little group.

"Uhhh, me," said one of the icers. "Luke."

"Luke! Thank you for participating. When are you scheduled to work again, after today?" Fitz asked grinning.

Luke checked his phone for the saved photo in his camera roll of the schedule. "Sunday." Luke offered hesitantly. "Four to nine."

"Ok. On Sunday you will get the day off with pay while I cover your shift. Does that work for you?"

"Hell yea that works for me. But why would you do that?"

Fitz heard his cell phone ringing and pulled it out of his pocket to see who it was. Rob. He let it go to voicemail and answered Luke. "Because you participated. Because I appreciate you being involved in the conversation." Fitz said grinning at him. Now everyone was listening intently for the opportunity to jump in with the hopes of a paid day off too. "I saw an edible cupcake liner while I was in Chicago. I emailed the vendor and he sent me some samples. I would like for all of you to taste one and tell me what you think. Honestly."

Fitz passed the small stacked liners to the person beside him and asked her to take one and pass them around. Once everyone had one, they looked at them with a scrunched up face, not really sure about this idea. "I know what you're thinking. This is just weird. These have a good taste. Just try it."

The group looked at each other until the first brave soul put a tiny part of the edge into her mouth. She only did it hoping her boss would reward her with a paid day off, but it didn't happen. "It's actually good!" She said with a shy smile.

Everyone else took a nip at the paper and came to the same conclusion. Fitz grinned at them and asked, "Now. What could be some potential problems with using this product at The Sweet Spot?"

They thought about it and Charlotte was the first one to comment. "This is vanilla flavored. Vanilla isn't going to mesh with all of the different flavors of cupcakes that we offer."

Fitz grinned at his right hand man. "Exactly. The good thing about these little beauties is that they..." His cell phone was ringing again. He apologized to his staff and once again pulled his phone out to see who it was. Rob again. He'd call him back later. He stuffed the phone back into his pocket. "What was I saying? Oh! These liners come in different flavors. So that solves that problem. What else?"

He received lots of blank stares from the people looking back at him. "Come on! Think about it! Who do we serve the most cupcakes to?"

"Henry the hobo?" Someone offered. Waves of chuckles were heard in the room.

"Kids." Someone plainly said.

"Yes! Kids! Who said that?" He asked.

"That'd be Alyssa, boss!" The teenager chirped. "And I work tomorrow."

More chuckling.

"Nice try, Alyssa. But I have something else for you. How about a fifty dollar gift card to Macy's?" Fitz got so much pleasure watching the happy shocked expression on her face.

"Seriously?" Fitz passed it to her and heard her say, "Whoa! Thanks!"

"So how would an edible cupcake liner confuse kids?" Again, his phone began ringing. And again, it was Rob. "Excuse me for a second. This could be important. But I doubt it. Hello!" He barked.

"Hey Fitzy! How's it hanging?" Rob said cheerfully.

"Rob, unless this is an emergency, I really don't have time to talk right now. I'm in the middle of a staff meeting at the bakery."

"Actually, it is sorta an emergency. My apartment is being fumigated for termites as we speak. I can't go back into the building until Monday morning. Can I come stay with you and Olivia?" Rob asked.

"What?" Fitz turned away from his employees to make sure he heard his friend right. "That's two days from now?"

"Yea. I know. Friggin' super! He let us know by posting a note on each of our doors last night. Great guy, huh? So can I come stay with the two of you? I can't call Charlie because his bitch wife hates me. And I'd be afraid she'd kill me in my sleep anyways."

Finally, someone figured out what Fitz was trying to say. "Kids could think it's ok to eat all cupcake liners. Like the kind at home."

Fitz spun around with his phone still at his ear, pointed to the direction the answer came from, and excitedly said, "Exactly! Yes!"

"Great, Fitz. Thanks for understanding! See you at home tonight." Rob said.

The call was ended and Fitz's face fell as he looked at his phone still in his hand. What just happened? "Hang on a second guys." He tried dialing Rob's number again but it went to voicemail. He whispered, "shit" under his breath. Olivia was gonna kill him.

He was no longer interested in the staff meeting but continued on with it halfheartedly. Thirty minutes later everyone was let go back to their own lives and/or shifts. Fitz needed to call Olivia and warn her about what had just happened. He looked at his watch and realized she was probably on her lunch hour. He made the judgement call to not disrupt that, but the reality of it was he needed more time to figure out how to break the news to her.

For the rest of the day Fitz couldn't come up with a good way to tell Olivia about Rob staying with them. He took the coward's way out and didn't tell her. He pulled up into their driveway and saw that Rob was already there. Damn. There went his evening. He considered going to his parent's house for the night, but realized Olivia would hunt him down and shoot him. And then kill him. And probably dance on his body.

"This is gonna be bad," he muttered to himself as he sat in the driver's seat looking at the house. After a few minutes of dreading it, and another thought of leaving, he turned off the car and got out. He slid the keys into his pocket and slowly made his way up to the door. He turned to look at the car, the temptation of leaving so strong, when the front door opened and her voice said, "Don't even think about it, Mr. Grant."

Fitz closed his eyes and tried to think of something to say. His mind was completely empty. He turned around with a big smile on his face, jogged up the few steps, and leaned to kiss her. She turned her head. She was pissed! "Hi, babe. I can explain."

Olivia pulled the door closed and stood outside in the crisp fall evening with him. She crossed her arms across her chest and said, "Really? You can explain to me why of all your friends, the bat shit craziest one is in our house with all his stuff?"

"Actually," he tried with a smile.

She pointed a finger at him and said, "Uh uh! And you can explain why he told me that he spoke to you about it before lunchtime this afternoon but I had to find out when he turned up on our doorstep tonight?" She cut her eyes to slits at him.

"Babe..."

"Do not 'babe' me, Fitzgerald Grant." She whispered angrily. "Now tell me what the hell this is all about. From the top."

Fitz told her exactly what happened earlier and how Rob misunderstood his reply to one of the staff and thought he was telling him that he could stay with them. "I'm sorry. I...I just didn't know how to tell you. I know that sounds juvenile, but it's the truth." He took another step up towards her and grinned. "I love you."

She didn't want to forgive him. But he was standing there looking frazzled, nervous, and embarrassed. What was she going to do with him? It was kinda cute, even if she was mad at him. She unfolded her arms and held them open for him. He walked into them and hugged her tight. "I love you too. This isn't going to be horrendous, right? Just tell me it's not."

"It's not. I'll make up the couch for him. It's two days. It can't be that bad." He held onto her, appreciating her understanding of the situation. He was going to have to make it up to her big time. Whatever it took to keep his girl happy. "Are you ready for dinner? I'm starving."

"Rob brought dinner. Fast food tacos. For one. It's a wonder he isn't married yet." She giggled. Fitz rolled his eyes. She was right. Rob was the batshit craziest one of them all. He went inside and made dinner silently.

The next morning Fitz and Olivia made their way out to the kitchen to make coffee and get their day started. They had plans to go to lunch later on, but were looking forward to cuddling on the couch together. Rob was snoring loudly on the sofa with his threadbare tidy whities sticking out from the blanket. Olivia stopped in her tracks and side eyed Fitz. His lip curled downward as he looked at his friend. There went Saturday morning cuddle time.

By noon Rob still wasn't awake yet and Olivia made no qualms about making noise as she moved around the house. Rob never stirred. She went into their bedroom to get her shoes as Fitz was stepping out of the shower. His towel was hanging low on his hips and water droplets were running down his perfect chest. His curls looked like they had been towel dried and not yet combed. He looked delicious and Olivia looked him over from head to toe.

"See something you like?" He said in a low voice.

"Mmmm Hmmm," she replied with lust filled eyes. "I can't quite get the entire picture though because that pesky towel is blocking part of my view."

"That's a shame. Maybe you should come over here and move it. You really should get to see the entire picture." Saturday morning sex was a go! She was practically mounting him with her eyes.

Olivia never took her eyes off of his and closed the gap between them, with a little extra sway her hips. She reached down and gave a little tug to the edge of the towel Fitz had tucked close to his skin. The towel dropped immediately. Still looking into his eyes she asked, "May I?"

That sexy baritone hummed and he said, "I'd be disappointed if you didn't."

Olivia tore her gaze from his, took a step back, and eyed him appreciatively. She licked her finger and walked very slowly around his nude body. Her fingertip started at his right shoulder, and as she got to his back, it dipped to his backside and trailed across his firm cheeks. She made a zig zag trail up between his shoulder blades, and she grinned when he shuddered. When she got to his left side, her fingertip dipped and trailed across his hip bone as his head followed her fingers every movement. She paused for  
a second and then dragged it to his belly button where it traced around it, like water circling a drain. And then it slowly, methodically dragged down his fuzzy happy trail.

Fitz inhaled sharply and grabbed her wrist. He was already as hard as iron. "Your clothes need to come off. It's my turn!" Olivia giggled and had just taken off her shirt when there was a knock on their bedroom door.

"Guys? I'm hungry. What's for breakfast?" Rob whined.

Olivia looked at Fitz and felt his erection wilt. "Is he serious?" She asked.

"Nah. I'm sure he's just messing with us." Fitz picked Olivia up, deposited her on their bed, and pounced on top of her. He started kissing her feverously. Until Rob knocked on the door again.

"I'm gonna come in and make sure you guys are ok." Rob said.

"NO!" Olivia and Fitz yelled at the same time.

Fitz bolted off the bed and lunged for the door, stark naked. He grabbed the doorknob just as it started turning. "Rob, we'll be out in a minute, buddy. Go get dressed and we'll get something to eat. Ok?"

"That sounds like a good plan." Rob said from the other side of the door.

By this time Olivia had gotten off the bed as well and was stalking towards him. "That does not sound like a good plan. We have a date for lunch today. Or did you forget?" She asked with her hands on her hips and raised eyebrows.

"Liv, he's only here for two days. You and I have all the time in the world to go to lunch together. He doesn't have anyone else. Please?"

"Are you choosing him over me?" She asked.

"No way. You're a much better kisser than he is." Fitz grinned at her scrunched up face.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" She laughed.

Fitz put his arms around her waist and said, "Nothing. But I made you smile. That's gotta be worth a kiss, right?"

"Fine." She pecked his smiling mouth. "But the next time I get you naked, I expect you to tell him to get lost so I can get laid. Or at least lock the door. Got it?"

"Yes ma'am." He replied. So there would be a next time within the following thirty-six hours. Good to know, he thought to himself.

"As much as it kills me to say this, you need to go get dressed." She whined.

"You really want to keep me naked and all to yourself huh?" He smirked.

"Now you're just being cocky," she said inspecting her fingernails.

Fitz batted her hand down and put his finger under her chin to direct her gaze back to his. "I've got some cocky for ya."

"Go get dressed before I drop both of you off at Charlie and Quinn's house. She can kill both of you! I might even pay her."

"You love me and you know it. I'll be ready in five minutes." As he walked away from her, she slapped his bare ass and grinned happily when he yelped.

The three of them went to a pizza place and enjoyed a nice lunch together. When the check came, Rob got up to use the restroom and was gone for ten minutes. Fitz took the hint and paid the bill while Olivia frowned. The women she was friends with didn't treat each other like that. And if one of them did act that way, she would be called out on her behavior in front of the others. Olivia would never understand men.

Once they were all back in the car, Fitz said, "I know we just ate, but I was thinking of grilling out tonight. We could pick everything up while we're already in town. What do you two think?"

Olivia squeezed his hand. "That sounds like a good idea. Whaddya say, Rob?"

"Hell yea. Grilled steaks would be amazing for dinner." Rob offered from the back seat.

"Great," Fitz said looking at him in the rearview mirror. "You can buy the steaks and we'll get the rest."

That didn't go quite the way Rob intended, but he knew if he wanted steak now he would have to buy them. He could do that.

They went into the grocery store and Rob went straight to the meat department while Fitz and Liv went down the aisles to get everything they would need. Fitz decided on baked potatoes and a salad to go with the steaks. He wasn't even remotely hungry right now, but the thought of steak made his mouth water.

While in the produce section Olivia picked up some fresh mushrooms for Fitz to sauté with onions. He saw what she had in her hand and shook his head no. Not understanding what he meant, she asked him. "Why are you shaking your head? It's just mushrooms, Fitz."

He took them out of her hand and held them away from her. "Remember when I told you there is one food I don't eat? It's mushrooms."

"Get outta here! Why not?"

"Because they are disgusting! Especially after they are cooked. It's a texture thing. I'm never sticking my tongue in your mouth again if you eat them in front of me." He warned.

She leaned close to his ear and whispered, "But you'll still stick your tongue in my..."

"Stop it!" He warned in a low voice. "We're in a public place and I'd hate to see you get embarrassed in the produce section." Fitz licked her ear and whispered back, "But to answer your question, yes I will. Every chance I get."

Olivia was about to tempt him further but that was when Rob shouted from across the store at them. "Guys, I got the prettiest steaks in the store."

"Until later, Mr. Grant." She said with a smile.

"Counting on it, Miss Pope." He shot back.

Rob showed them the steaks he had chosen and Fitz groaned. "Those are sirloins. We are not eating cheap ass steaks. I want you to go back to the meat department, talk to the butcher, and get three ribeyes or New York strips. Something that doesn't taste like cardboard."

"But those are more expensive!" Rob whined.

"You can always go to Charlie and Quinn's house." Fitz said with a smile.

"I'll be right back." Rob said and then quickly left.

Dinner was fairly uneventful for the three of them. Except for the fact that Rob never picked up his plate, or offered to clean the kitchen, or do anything at all. When he was finished eating he walked over to the couch and turned on the television.

Olivia's eye went to slits and she aimed them in Fitz's direction. Fitz shrugged, sighed, and got up to clean up. She assumed basic people skills were in every human being. You make a mess, you clean it up. You stay with someone, you offer to help out wherever you can. Apparently Rob had no such basic skills. She closed her eyes at the table and chanted in her mind, 'he'll be gone tomorrow night'. And then she got up to help clean the kitchen.

Fitz was still excited about his promised chance for sex, and the thought had him cleaning the kitchen and stacking the dishes at warp speed. By seven thirty he grabbed Olivia's hand and they made their way to their bedroom, never stopping when they said goodnight to Rob.

"Wait! What?" Rob said, turning his head toward them. He looked at his watch. "It's not even eight o'clock. Have you two turned into old people?"

"No, but..." Fitz tried.

"It's my last night here. I mean, I'll be here until tomorrow night when the building is re-opened, but I thought we could stay up and watch a movie?" He said full of hope.

Fitz looked at Olivia and saw her slightly shake her head no. He squeezed her hand and told his friend, "How about we compromise? Instead of a movie, let's watch a tv show together. Then we'll go to bed?"

Olivia shrugged in acceptance and heard Rob excitedly say, "YES! I have the perfect one in mind too."

Turns out Rob's perfect tv show was having a marathon and every time an episode went off he begged them to stay up for 'just one more episode'. By midnight, Olivia had fallen asleep in Fitz's arms on the couch. He told Rob goodnight and picked her up to put her to bed. Once they were settled under the blanket, Fitz pulled her close to his side and held her. One more day, he thought to himself.

Sundays were for sleeping in late, and even though Fitz was wide awake, he kept still, so she could sleep a little longer. Olivia had her right leg across both of his legs and her arm was across his chest. He loved it when he woke up before she did so he could enjoy these quiet moments while she slept. She was so peaceful like this.

He wondered what they were going to do with Rob today until it was time to take him home? Fitz remembered that he had to cover Luke's shift at the bakery. He momentarily regretted that random act of kindness because he didn't know if Liv and Rob would both be alive when he came home tonight. And he had forgotten to tell Olivia about it. He looked down at her perfect sleeping form. She was going to freak out like a Tasmanian devil when he told her he was leaving her alone with Rob for six hours. He kissed her temple while he could.

A loud bang on their bedroom door followed by Rob's excited voice startled Fitz and Olivia. "Guys! The show is still on! Come on! Let's watch some more of it while it lasts!"

Olivia sat up and looked at the bedside clock. Seven am? "Oh hell no!" She said to Fitz, getting out of bed. She was making her way to the door to give him a piece of her mind when Fitz grabbed her by the waist and pulled her into the bathroom and closed the door. "Let go of me right now, Fitz! Someone has got to talk some damn sense into him!"

Still he held her.

"Listen. I know he has basically ruined our weekend. But it's one weekend out of a million. It's no big deal really. Think about it. He lives alone. He has no one to talk to at home or share funny things with. Or watch tv with. Or buy expensive steaks for. It's just him. He doesn't know how this give and take thing goes. I'm just asking that you be a little patient with him. He's going home tonight after all."

She had softened by the time he was done talking. And then he remembered that he had more bad news to share with her. "Uhhh I have to tell you something. And I'm pretty sure you're gonna be mad at me."

"What the hell is it now? I have just calmed down. Unless you are running away, I'm sure it's no big deal."

Fitz gave her a nervous smile and avoided eye contact.

"NO! No way in hell are you leaving me alone here with him. Whatever it is you need to change your plans." He finally looked into her eyes. "Tell me."

"Yesterday at the staff meeting, I offered to cover a shift for one of the kids because he got involved in the staff meeting. I have to work from four to nine. Please don't be mad at me, babe."

"Why do you always call me babe when you know I'm not going to like what you have to say? How many other shifts do you have to cover?"

"Just this one. I gave a few of the others different benefits."

"Do not be giving my benefits to any of your staff, Fitzgerald. Those are all mine."

"Has anyone ever told you that you're completely adorable when you're jealous?" He grinned at her and pulled her in for a hug, hoping she would let him.

"No." She answered honestly.

"You are though. Really really adorable." He pulled away from the embrace and said, "I'm sorry I have to leave you with him. Please don't kill him, Liv. He's a pain in the ass, but he's one of my best friends. And I promise to make it up to you. Whatever you want."

"Fine. But just know that I am going to make it very imaginative and expensive for you."

"I expected no less from you. You know that I love you, right?" He was pouring it on thick and they both knew it.

"Don't say that until you come home. I can't promise not to kill him. But I'll try not to."

Three thirty rolled around and Fitz gave Liv a kiss goodbye. Rob got a handshake and a parting threat from his friend. "Take care of my girl or I will kick your ass!"

In his best Forrest Gump voice, which sucked, he said, "Me and Olivia will be like peas and carrots."

Fitz gave him and bland stare. He looked at Liv and whispered, "If you kill him, at least do it on your side of the room."

Fitz had been gone a few hours when Rob told Olivia he would like to take a shower. She got him a towel and face cloth and left them in the bathroom. She settled on the couch and flipped through channels on tv. There was nothing on. Thankfully that stupid marathon was over though. She didn't think she could sit through another episode of an idiot making meth.

Rob came out thirty minutes later all smiles. Olivia, who had almost passed out surrounded by all the blissful silence, returned his smile. He wasn't such a bad guy. Lonely maybe. Thinking that a bath sounded like a great idea, she told him she was heading off to take one and for him to make himself at home.

She grabbed some pj's and a fuzzy robe and headed to the bathroom with high expectations of enjoying more peace and quiet. She pulled back the shower curtain and squatted down to start the water when she saw what looked like something out of CSI. She fell back on her butt and quickly stood up. Olivia leaned in to see if she was looking at what she thought she was looking at.

Apparently Rob had opted to take a bath instead of a shower because there was a dark ring around the tub. There was a pile of shaving cream in one corner of the edge of the tub with little black hairs poking out from all directions. The shaving cream canister had foam dripping down the side. And Olivia's razor has sitting in the middle of the foam/hair carnage.

In yet another corner, Liv saw...what the hell was that? She peered closer and realized it was a haphazard pile of clipped toenails! She covered her mouth with her hand in revulsion. Her empty shampoo bottle lay in the middle of the tub. Screw this! He had gone unchecked for too long.

Olivia strode into the living room and grabbed the remote control from his hand. He was about to protest but it died in his throat when he saw her face. "I'm going to talk and you're going to listen. Got it?"

"Sure, Liv." He said, oblivious as to why she was upset.

"You have been a guest in our home since Friday night. In that time you have acted like an idiot, been cheap as hell, downright rude, and now we're going to add supremely disgusting to that list!"

"What are you..."

"I talk. You listen." She reminded him. "You brought dinner here Friday night just for yourself. I can overlook that one. You live alone, so you don't think about other people. I get that. When you got up yesterday morning, you didn't fold your blanket and put it away like a decent guest. You left it for  
someone else to do. That is not acceptable. Single or not. Then when we went to lunch yesterday you never even offered to help pay for it. Or even left a tip! Who does that to their friends?"

Rob opened his mouth to speak until Olivia pointed a finger at him and then he wisely closed it again.

And when we went to the grocery store, you picked out the cheapest steaks to save money. Come on, Rob. That's really not a cool way to treat two people who are helping you out of a difficult situation. You really need to practice thinking about others and putting them ahead of yourself.

And then..." She almost brought up the television thing. But she could let that go too. She knew he was lonely and maybe just wanted company for a change. "Then you banged on our bedroom door at an ungodly hour in the morning. That shit is so unacceptable that I don't think I can even make you understand it! You don't mess with other people's sleep! Unless there is an emergency.

And then tonight you took a bath and made the tub look like something Jigsaw put together as a clue in a Saw movie! Who the hell leaves toenail clippings on the side of someone's tub? Or shaving cream and hair? You're going to buy me a new razor because that one looks like it shaved Chewbacca's back!"

Rob had been sinking further into the couch with every sentence Olivia said. He hadn't been a good friend. He hadn't thought to help out or be thoughtful of them in any way. He felt terrible about it and wanted to fix it.

"So you're going to march your ass into my bathroom and clean that nasty black ring your ass left in it. And you're going to throw the clippings away and clean up the foam and hair. And the next time you come over here, you're going to bring me a new bottle of shampoo. That shampoo isn't for your hair by the way."

"I was curious about it." He said quietly.

Olivia chuckled at him.

"I'm really sorry, Olivia. I'm sorry that I've been a pain in the ass. I really will try to be a better friend to you and to Fitz, while I'm here. But I gotta treat him like a jerk when it's just the guys. Ok?"

"Of course you do. That's what guys do. I understand that. And I accept your apology. Now go clean my tub please." She got up and collected the cleaning supplies and handed them to him. "I'm going to inspect it when you're done. So it had better freaking gleam!"

An hour later Fitz came home, tired from his shift and anxious about what would greet him when he walked in the door. What the hell was that smell? He heard laughter and followed the sound of it. Olivia and Rob were sitting in front of the coffee table playing a board game together. And enjoying themselves. He wondered if he had just entered the twilight zone and looked around nervously.

"Babe! You're home!" Olivia stood up and greeted him with a happy kiss. "How was your shift?"

"Who cares? What is that smell?" He asked sniffing the air.

She grinned at him and said, "Rob and I got a cleaning bug and cleaned the house together."

Fitz lifted an eyebrow at her. Rob was probably hiding bruises and leaking blood under his clothing. "You ok, Rob?"

"Yea man. I'm great. We dusted and vacuumed and mopped. It was fun." Rob said smiling.

Olivia must have poisoned poor Rob. He'd drive Rob home by himself and then he'd tell him what she had done to his friend. "Ok. Are you ready for me to take you home? I bet you're ready to get back to the peace and quiet, huh?"

Olivia wrapped her arms around Fitz's neck and said, "Actually, if it's ok with you, Rob is going to stay with us tonight. Do you mind?"

Fitz didn't know what had happened in the six hours he was gone, but he wasn't sure he wanted to know either. If they could act nice, then so could he. "Fine by me. But I'm going to bed."

"Me too." Olivia said. Rob winked at her and she said, "We'll finish this game tomorrow though. I took a picture of the board so don't even try to cheat by moving the pieces."

Rob chuckled at her and bid them goodnight. Once the door was closed Fitz asked, "What the hell did you do to him, Liv?"

"I had a chat with him about things."

"That's worse than killing him."


	43. Oh Baby

_I appreciate each and every one of you so very much!_

Oh Baby

Fall had officially arrived in New York. Somehow the heat wave from the summer had lasted well into September. But now that it was late October, the warm weather had turned a little brisker in the mornings and evenings. The leaves had turned beautiful colors of red, yellow, and orange. And they crunched under your feet when you stepped on them. The days were about to be shorter due to daylight savings time too.

Fitz always liked the fall. Mostly for Halloween. Christmas would always be his favorite holiday, but Halloween was definitely his second favorite. That was probably because kids of all ages came to his house dressed up in cute or scary costumes, knocked on his door, and said, "Trick or Treat" for candy. And Fitz never bought the cheap candy many adults buy. The lollipops or the mix bag of candy that costs under five bucks.

No way! Fitz always bought the good stuff. The expensive stuff. The name brand chocolate bars that made their eyes light up because they recognized the label. The kind he happily ate whenever there were a few pieces left over at the end of the night. He wondered if Olivia ever got trick or treaters at her house? He was going to miss seeing the same families that he had been giving candy to over the years at his house. But he was looking forward to meeting new ones in Olivia's neighborhood on Halloween night, just three days away.

He was happily decorating cupcakes for the bakery in the Halloween theme late that afternoon when Olivia walked in the door. She greeted Charlotte at the front counter and asked where Fitz was. She was directed to the back room where she decided to sneak up on him, putting her finger to her lips at everyone who was standing near Fitz. She got a lot of grins from his employees. He had his back to her while he worked so it was pretty easy to surprise him.

She was about to tickle his sides, when he suddenly spun around, wrapped his arms around her, and picked her up. "Nice try, Miss Pope."

She squealed in surprise. "How in the hell did you know I was behind you?"

"Because the people I work with are only ever all smiles when two things are happening. Either it's pay day and they are waiting for their checks, or you are here. It's Wednesday. So it had to be you." He pecked her lips while the other people grinned harder but continued working.

"I'll just keep that in mind then," she quickly stuck her tongue out at him.

Fitz set her back on her feet and asked, "What brings you here in the middle of the week?"

"I just left the office and had a fabulous chat with Abby and Stephen about their annual Halloween party. I wanted to know if you had any thoughts about what we should dress up as?" She stuck out her index finger, facing up, and he squirted a little frosting on it from the piping bag.

"You're going to have to elaborate because this is our first Halloween together. I always stay at home and give out candy to the kids that come to my house. Do any kids come to your house on Halloween night? I need to know how much candy to buy."

She thought about that for a good three seconds and then answered him. "I don't know because I'm never home on Halloween night. I'm always at Abby and Stephen's house enjoying the party they throw every year. I always spend the night with them so I don't have to drive home. So what do you want us to dress up as? We could be a cute couple, or a scary couple, or just any random couple. It doesn't matter to me."

"A party sounds like fun. But I'd want to stay at home for a little while before we go so we can give out candy to the kids. Since it's the first year candy has ever been given out at your house, and that's just wrong by the way, we can sit on the porch so they will know we got the goods." It sounded like a great plan to him.

"That's a fair compromise." Olivia said. She was trying to be more giving in their relationship and less self-centered. It was hard sometimes, learning the ins and outs of being in a relationship, living with a man, and sharing her life with him while he shared his with her. She was getting better at it.

Fitz dropped the piping bag and grinned at her. "You are full of surprises today. There wasn't any teeth pulling in that conversation."

"You just remember that you owe me for Rob being at our house last month. I'm still waiting to collect on that. Don't think I've forgotten, Mister." She said grinning back at him.

"And there's my girl," he chuckled and pecked her lips.

"So what are we going to dress up as? I've never done a couples theme before, so I'm kind of freaking out. Besides that, Halloween is just a few days away. We might be screwed anyway and have to take whatever is left at the costume store. Do you have any ideas?"

"Uhhhhh nope. It's no big deal though. We'll find something."

"I'm going to go to the costume store and see what they have. Maybe inspiration will hit? If you think of anything text me please." She pecked his lips and said goodbye to everyone else.

When Fitz got home a few hours later, Olivia was sitting in a rocker on the porch drinking a cup of coffee. She had one of the throws from the back of the couch wrapped around her and Fitz could see her fuzzy slippers poking out from under the blanket. He put his hands on the arm rests of the chair and leaned down to kiss her lips. "Mmmmm. I missed you today." He murmured against her lips.

"I just saw you." She giggled and rubbed her nose against his. "What am I gonna do with you?"

"I happen to have some ideas, if you're out of them?" He grinned.

"I just bet you do. Come sit down. We don't want to give Charles another show." Olivia said, looking at their neighbor's house.

Fitz sat down in the other rocker and reached his hand out for her to hold it. "Did you find anything for us to wear to the party?"

"Nope. The racks were pretty bare. The only ones left were slutty cop, slutty nurse, slutty..."

"Woah!" He looked into her eyes with a serious expression. "Slutty nurse? Please tell me you bought it? We need that costume in our personal life."

"Fitz, it wasn't only slutty, it was expensive. I'm not buying that!"

"Fine. Tell me the name of the store you went to and I'll go buy it tomorrow. It'll be worth every penny. I can't wait to get sick now."

She scrunched her face up at him. "You are already sick. Can we please figure out what we are going to be for Halloween?"

"I'm listening, but just know my mind is still stuck on slutty nurse."

"I hate you sometimes," she laughed. "Ok, do you want to dress funny? Sexy? Scary? Cute? Give me some ideas."

Fitz brought her hand up to his lips and placed a soft kiss on it. "It's Halloween. There really isn't any pressure except for the dangerous amounts you have in your mind. I actually did come up with something. I'm not sure you'll like it though?"

"Really? What is it?"

"Tarzan and Jane." He wiggled his eyebrows at her and watched her face go from confusion to shock to laughter.

"No way, Fitz."

"Why not? It's perfect! I got the idea from..."

"I'm well aware of where you got the idea from. The answer is no!"

"Give me one good reason why not," he challenged.

"Because I can't be seen by other people in that get up! NO WAY!"

"Do you honestly think I want anyone else to see you in that scrap of material? Hell no! I googled some costumes and found some that are appropriate. Racy enough for an adult party, but not so racy they show off either of our goodies."

"Did you just say goodies?" She burst into laughter. "Show me the pictures."

"Say please," he said with a grin.

Olivia rolled her eyes at him. "Please?"

They sat with their heads together hunched over his phone looking through photos. "That one is really cute!" She exclaimed. Fitz touched the photo and found the price for both his and hers. "And it's not crazy expensive either. What do you think?"

"It's fine with me, babe." He pushed a few buttons and said, "The one across town has both of them. Let's go get them right now to make sure no one else does."

"Right now? I have on my pajamas, Fitz! I'm not going into a store in my pj's."

"If you go in and get dressed real quick, and I stress real quick, then I'll take you to get dinner when we're done." He was trying to sweeten the deal. She was the one who was in a hurry to get costumes and now she was dragging her feet? Fitz wasn't having it.

"Can we get dessert too?" She batted her eyes at him. He was going to say yes, she already knew.

"Dessert to go so we can eat it here later on!" He said in his low baritone. "IF you are ready to go in ten minutes."

"But I'm cold. Carry me inside please?" She was pushing it. But he would say yes to that too.

"Fine." Fitz picked her up and demanded. "Now kiss me."

Olivia wrapped her arms around his neck, her legs around his waist, and sucked on his bottom lip, before biting it. His growled in response and his tongue darted into her mouth the moment she released his lip. The kiss quickly became intense. Fitz's hands traveled south and happily stopped on her ass, which he grabbed onto. The blanket fell from her shoulders to the floor of the porch.

Fitz turned slowly toward the door, still holding onto Olivia to go inside. Costumes could wait until later. The store didn't close for another two hours. There was plenty of time. Maybe. There was always tomorrow, right? He reluctantly let go of one of her ass cheeks to grip the doorknob when someone loudly cleared their throat. They immediately pulled their lips away from each other and took in a deep breath of air and then turned their heads in the direction the noise came from. Their neighbor, Charles was standing on their porch looking everywhere but at them. Olivia burrowed her head into Fitz's chest, completely embarrassed.

"Good evening, Charles. What brings you by?" Fitz asked as Olivia tried to get down. He held her firmly and easily in his arms and grinned at their neighbor.

"I'm so sorry to bother. A piece of your mail was delivered in my box, accidentally I'm sure. I just wanted to bring it by. I didn't mean to...well...disrupt your evening."

Fitz grinned at the man. "It's no problem at all, Charles. We were just looking for Halloween costumes."

Charles looked from Fitz to the back of Olivia's head, still burrowed in shame. "Yes. I'm sure you were. I won't take up any more of your time. Have a good evening."

"Thanks again, Charles." Fitz said. He carried Olivia into the house and roared with laughter.

"Ohmygod Fitz! That man is never going to go outside again! We have scarred him for life!" Olivia said in a mortified voice.

"Babe, the man has three adult kids. He knows what foreplay looks like. Believe me."

"Shut up! That precious man does not know anything about foreplay! His babies were delivered by the stork at night." She giggled.

"I thought we could delay the trip to the costume store for an hour. But we might as well do it now." He dropped her back on her feet and swatted her ass. "Go get some clothes on."

"Say please," she teased.

"Please go take your ass into our bedroom and put some clothes on before I change my mind, lock this door, and have my way with you up against this wall." He leaned on it for effect and gave her his lopsided smile when her breathing changed and she eyed him up and down. "Go, perv! You'll get yours later." He chuckled.

"That was unnecessary! We aren't friends right now." She said as she stomped off.

"That's too bad. I was thinking about getting extra whipped cream," he called out in a teasing voice.

Olivia stopped mid step, looked over her shoulder at Fitz, and grinned evilly at him. But her steps were much quicker now.

The costumes were purchased. Dinner was nothing fancy, but very good nonetheless. And as promised, even though it took her fifteen minutes to get ready, Fitz asked for a brownie with vanilla ice cream and lots of whipped cream on the side to go. Olivia was willing him to get them home as fast as possible.

Once they got home, Fitz opened her door and held her hand to the front of the house. Nothing out of the ordinary. No accidental shows for Charles. But once the front door was closed, it was a different story. She launched herself into his arms, resuming her earlier position with arms and legs wrapped around his lean body. Her mouth feverishly attached to his and he groaned happily at her eagerness.

His hands went back to her ass as he held her up and walked them to the closest wall. Pressing her back up against it, he released one hand's grip to reach up and under her shirt to grip something else. Now it was her turn to groan happily. Their lips were still fused together. Tongues still dancing inside each other's mouths. "Too many clothes," he muttered between kisses.

Olivia released her grip on his curls and easily pulled her shirt over her head, throwing it on the floor. Her hands went to the edge of his blue polo, trying to pull it up, while Fitz pulled her away from the wall.

He slid one hand up her back to undo the clasp on her bra. He pulled it off her shoulders and licked his lips at the sight in front of him. Hoisting her up a little higher, Olivia's breasts were now in front of his face and he wasted no time locking his mouth onto one of her nipples and sucking hard.

Olivia arched her back off the wall, let out a pleasure filled moan, and almost toppled them to the floor. She dropped the edge of his shirt, grabbed two handfuls of his soft curls and tried to pull his head even closer. Her breathing was getting heavy and she was lost in ecstasy, begging him for more, when he released the hardened wet nipple and slid her down the wall a little bit and kissed her again. She opened her mouth and his tongue met hers, happy to be together again.

When air was needed by both of them, they broke apart and Olivia felt her body being slid back up the wall and his mouth latching onto the other nipple. She closed her eyes and was completely enjoying it, when she felt them moving. The wall was no longer behind her and her eyes flew open. Fitz was walking them to the counter where he had left the dessert. He set her beside the dessert, lifted the lid, dipped his finger in the whipped cream, and took his time painting her nipple with it.

"Fitz. Please." She panted out.

"Mmmmm. Please what, babe?" He said, not paying any attention to her. "I'm about to have my dessert."

"Hurry the hell up! I'm about to implo..." The last word was a scream as his mouth attached wildly on her white foamy nipple. "Ohmygod!"

Fitz pulled away from her grinning with whip cream all over his face. "You ok?"

"Do the other one. NOW!" She demanded.

Fitz's eyebrows went up high, but he complied with her demand. Instead of sucking it off her skin immediately, he lazily dragged his tongue all over the tasty white froth. Olivia's had a firm grip on the back of his head, moving it where she wanted his mouth to be. Her own head was thrown back fully enjoying the moment.

"Still too many clothes," he muttered for the second time.

Olivia forcefully pulled his head away from her skin and while he whined, she pulled his shirt up and off. She splayed her fingers open and ran them over his hairy chest and down his ridged abs. She reached down, unbuttoned his jeans, and pulled the zipper down.

Fitz swatted her hands away. She was taking too damn long and he was anxious to be inside her. He pulled his jeans down and stepped out of them. He put his hands on her waist and set her on the floor. "Now yours. And hurry!"

Olivia did the same thing Fitz did just as quickly as he had done. They were both standing gloriously naked, eyeing each other for a moment. Fitz grinned at her and tossed her over his shoulder, as he had done many times before. She squealed and giggled from behind his back as he carried her into their bedroom.

He flung her down onto the bed and pounced on top of her, careful to keep his full weight on his forearms. "You're sticky," he said with a smile.

"You made me that way," she said smiling back.

"I'm going to make you even stickier."

"Is that a threat or a promise?" she teased.

"Oh, that most definitely is a promise, Miss Pope." He pecked her lips once, grinned, and said, "In fact, I think in Charles' honor, we will skip any more foreplay."

Olivia giggled until she felt Fitz suddenly push himself inside her. She gasped and griped Fitz's shoulders tightly. "Ohhhhhhh god!" She moaned loudly.

"That was a surprise. And maybe a little mean. But you took it well." He chuckled. "I made you a promise and I plan keeping it." He looked at her face. Her eyes were closed tight. Her head was rolled all the way back, almost looking at the headboard. He was pretty sure he felt ten fingernails embedded in the skin of his shoulders. She looked like a statue.

And then she slowly started coming back to life. Olivia rolled her hips, encouraging him to do the same. She cupped his cheeks, opened her eyes, and pulled his face to hers for more kisses. Fitz looked down at her, smiled, and said, "You ok?"

"I need you to move."

"Am I crushing you?"

"What? No! Move!"

"Oh, you need some space?" He pulled away from her, but she kept a death grip on his shoulders and wrapped her legs around his waist for good measure.

"No, Fitz! I need you to move!"

"Ohhhhh. You mean this?" He smirked at her and pulled out of her suddenly and hammered back into her a few times, thoroughly enjoying hearing her breath catch.

She nodded mutely with a look of concentration on her face. She looked into his eyes and panted out, "Give...me...more."

Fitz loved demanding Olivia. It flipped a switch inside of him like nothing else. He plunged deeper, faster, fully burying himself in her velvety depths. He felt like he was racing toward a precipice that he never really wanted to reach. It just felt do damn good. She felt so good under his body. He loved watching her beautiful face during sex. It was almost addictive to Fitz to watch the many different expressions she wore. He listened for her whimpers and shouts of encouragement, already very well aware of what she liked and how her body responded to what he did to it.

Her hips were matching his thrust for thrust. Her heart was pounding wildly against his own fast beating one. Her toes curled as the pressure continued to build. She wanted that blissful release, but she never wanted this to stop. She loved these moments with Fitz. The feeling that every part of her belonged to every part of him. And vice versa. It felt magical every time their bodies joined, and she never wanted it to end.

But the feelings were growing more and more intense. She was having a harder time holding that euphoric moment back. And she knew Fitz could tell it too. He slowed the pace a little and gasped, "You trying to make me break my promise?" His smile that followed was a strained one.

"I'm not ready," she huffed full of determination.

"Oh baby, you are. You're right there. Let go for me." He coaxed. A few more thrusts and she sang for him. Well, it was an ear piercing scream, but to him it was the music of his soul. As she quivered under him from the aftershocks and held onto him for dear life, Fitz powered in and out of her until he himself grunted loudly and let go too.

Fitz rolled off of her and flopped down on his back gasping for air. His fuzzy chest was expanding and contracting from exertion. Beside him, Olivia was doing the same thing. Both of them were sweaty and exhausted, but Fitz had kept his promise. He grinned at the thought of it.

Olivia rolled onto her side, toward him and settled herself in the crook of his arm as his came down and around her heated body. "That was..."

"Amazing," she finished.

"Good word. Not really strong enough, but I'll take it." He laughed when she swatted his arm. "How about a quick shower, change these sticky sheets, and then we pass out?"

"Yes! To all three of those things! But you're gonna have to carry me. I really don't think I can walk right now."

"You're welcome," he beamed with male pride.

"And since I can't walk, there's no way I'll be able to stand long enough to help you change the sheets. So you'll have to do it by yourself." She gave him a pitiful face.

"That was slick, Miss Pope. I see what you did there." He grinned and kissed her mouth. "But I did make you sticky. So really, I win."

"Mmmmm. I do love it when you keep your word, Mr. Grant. I'm tired. Let's move."

After their shower, where round two almost became a reality, and they had changed the sheets on the bed, and were settled under the blanket, Olivia's eyes became impossibly heavy. "I love you, Fitz. So much."

"I love you too, Olivia. Go to sleep now. See you in the morning." Fitz yawned loudly and held her close as they both dropped off.

At three a.m. Fitz awoke to a sound he couldn't place. His subconscious hated the noise immediately. He was having the best dream of Olivia in a white dress and he wanted to go back to it. He closed his eyes, trying to shut out the sound, to get back to where his mind had been. But it was no use. The damned noise was louder than before. What the hell was that?

Just as Fitz rolled over to the edge of the bed , sat up, and put his feet on the cold floor, the noise suddenly stopped. Someone was messing with him. He wondered where it had come from? He decided he didn't care. He was fully awake now and this day was going to be the longest one ever.

He got back under the blankets and looked over at Olivia. She was laying on her side in the fetal position sleeping peacefully. He pulled the blanket up over her shoulder and she sighed quietly. God, he loved her so much. He looked up to the ceiling feeling a little bit frustrated. He just wanted to get back into that dream. Even if just for a few minutes longer. He closed his eyes and tried to recall everything he had seen from the beginning.

And then that sound came back. He jerked his head up from his pillow and stilled his movements. It sounded like it was coming from the other room. He looked around the bedroom for a weapon, but unless he planned to beat someone to death with one of his beloved's heels, there was nothing. He cracked the door and again stilled his movements to listen more intently.

Looking around the dark house from the safety of the bedroom, Fitz saw nothing. No movements. No shadows. Nothing. He crept out of the room, closed the bedroom door behind him, and tiptoed into the living room. The noise stopped. What the hell was going on?

He flipped on the light switch in the living room and quickly looked around. He saw nothing and no one. He walked into the spare room, flipped on that light switch too, but no one was in there. He turned the light back off and went back into the living room. He double checked the front door to make sure it was locked, and it was. He opened the refrigerator and picked up a bottle of water when the noise came back.

Fitz banged his head on the door trying to get to where the noise was. He not so quietly cursed some words sailors would be proud of and then covered his mouth with his hand. Shit. He hoped he hadn't woken Liv up? He squinted in the room. The noise seemed to be coming from...Olivia's purse? This was probably a major no - no but he opened her bag and peeked inside.

The face of her phone was lit up, and when Fitz pulled the device from her purse, he saw Cyrus looking at him. Cyrus was calling Olivia. And then it dawned on him. She must have changed her ring tone recently. He accepted the call and said a timid, 'Hello?"

"Uhhh hello?"Cyrus' voice asked. And then he realized who he was speaking to. "Fitz? FITZ! Ohmygod I have been trying to call Olivia for a half hour!"

"Are you alright, Cyrus?" Fitz asked.

"I'm friggin perfect. Well, I will be soon. I'm sorry to be calling so early but I really need to talk to Liv. I know she's probably asleep. And I know she's going to hate me. But would you go and wake her up? Please?"

"Is it an emergency? I'm not trying to be a pain in the ass, but long story short, I'm having a baby tonight. Can you believe that?" His voice was full of excitement. "Please let me talk to Liv. She has a way of calming me down. I don't know that I necessarily want to be calm, but...I just need to talk to her. Please?"

"That is amazing! Congratulations! I expect to hear the full story from you as payment for me having to wake the small grizzly from her hibernation." Fitz started walking into the bedroom, and turned the light on when he got there.

"Is that all? I thought you'd want something much more than that. You got it! Wake her ass up!" Cyrus chuckled.

Fitz put the phone on the bedside table and gently called her name. "Liv? Babe? Hey. Wake up please."

He got some unhappy noises from her, which he expected. She turned onto her other side and mumbled something about 'the damn light'. Still he didn't give up. He raised his voice some. "Liv! You need to wake up. Cyrus is on the phone and needs to talk to you."

Nothing.

"Olivia Pope! Wake your ass up right now!" He yelled in complete fear.

Olivia rolled over facing Fitz and two beady bloodshot brown eyes shot daggers at him. "Someone had better be dead!"

Fitz picked up the phone and hoisted it in her direction. "Blame Cyrus! I love you!" He darted out of the room at lightning speed. Cyrus was gonna get an earful from that tiny bear and Fitz didn't envy him that. He sat on the couch, planning to watch tv until he had to start getting ready for work. He was NOT going back into that room tonight.

Twenty minutes later, Olivia came out fully dressed and all smiles. Until she saw him sitting on the couch. "Why are you sitting there? We need to get to the hospital. Go get dressed."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"The agency found a pregnant woman who wants to sign all of her rights to the baby away to Cyrus and James. She's in labor. We need to get Uncle Fitz and Aunt Olivia to the hospital to support those two daddies."

"Sooooo you're not mad at me?" He asked hesitantly.

"For what? Waking me up? No! I'm too excited to be mad. Let's go get Uncle Fitz dressed."


	44. Baby Talk

_Thank you for all the encouraging words you constantly share with me in your reviews. You guys are the best!_

 _That being said, please be patient with me over the next few weeks as I wind down another school year where I work. My updates will probably go back to once a week until mid June when I am off for a month! Hang in there, I have so much more story to tell._

Baby Talk

Fitz and Olivia were headed to the hospital in the crazy early morning hour to be of support to Cyrus and James as the baby they planned to adopt was being born. They each had fresh cups of coffee in the cup holders to keep them warm and awake. The streets were dark and almost no one was on the road at this hour. They were holding hands and talking in the dimly lit car, Fitz had recently purchased from Stephen's friend. Life was good.

Olivia was checking her phone every so often for updates from Cyrus and James in between conversation. "I didn't get the woman's name who is giving birth. I need to get that from Cyrus." She sent him a text asking. "I don't know where to go once we get there."

"The maternity ward is probably a safe bet," Fitz said dryly.

Olivia looked at him with a straight face. "HaHa. I never would have thought of that, smartass. No. I mean, the nurse will ask us which patient we are there to see and which room number. It would be helpful to have all of that before we get there."

"Good point." He rubbed little circles on her hand with his thumb while she used her right hand to send yet another text to Cyrus.. He had been blissfully asleep beside her a few hours ago, dead to the world, after phenomenal sex. But somehow now he was wired and ready to go. "By the way, I wish you would let me know when you decide to change the ringtone on your phone. That's what woke me up. Otherwise I would still be asleep and dreaming very nice dreams."

After she sent the text, she dropped it in her lap and asked, "What were you dreaming about?"

"That's not the point. The point is..."

"Oh I got the point a few hours ago." She said seductively as she unbuckled her seatbelt and leaned over to suck on his earlobe. "It's a very nice point too."

"You're gonna have to stop doing that or I'm going to pull over and we'll make a baby of our own right here in this car."

Olivia chuckled and kissed his cheek, but obeyed and put her seatbelt back on. "Someone's cranky."

"Someone was woken up after only two hours of sleep by their girlfriend's weird ringtone because he thought there was someone in the house. Remind me to buy a bat to keep in our bedroom."

"Someone will forget all about his lack of sleep when he's holding a newborn later on. What are you going to do with a bat anyways?"

"It's for protection. I had nothing to defend us with if it had been an intruder. All I saw were your high heels and getting that close to a stranger in our house in the middle of the night wasn't something I saw happening. I need a bat. It's manly." He picked up his coffee and took a sip, putting it back in the cup holder quickly when it burned his mouth. "Ahhh! Still too hot."

Olivia laughed at him. "Manly huh? Remind me tomorrow morning to put an ice cube in your coffee so you don't burn your manly lips off."

"Maybe I'll wake you up with an ice cube in my mouth and run it all over your lips." He flirted

"You think frozen lips will keep me from talking too much?" She asked full of sass.

They pulled up to a red light in front of the hospital. "I'm not talking about those lips," he said as his gaze went down to her center. He licked his lips and got a great deal of satisfaction in watching her squirm in her seat. He waited until the light turned green and politely asked, "No sarcastic comment on that one, Miss Pope?"

"Shut up and drive, manly man."

Fitz grinned at her. He would keep the ice cube idea in mind. "Yes ma'am."

They walked into the hospital hand in hand and over to the elevator to go up to the third floor, which was maternity. She sent Cyrus another text telling him that they would be in the large waiting room. He immediately replied saying he would be out to talk to them as quickly as he could.

An hour later Cyrus walked into the waiting room and plopped down beside Olivia. He looked exhausted and his clothes were rumpled. But he had a smile on his face nonetheless. "Where is James, Cy?" Olivia asked, laying her head on his shoulder.

"James refuses to leave her side. He's been a friggin rock star, Liv. He must have read up on birthing because he knows exactly what to do and when to do it. When she needs to concentrate on breathing. When to get her some ice. And when to just be quiet. He's going to be a great dad."

"How are you holding up? Do you need anything? Something to eat or drink? A walk to clear your mind? A nap to be refreshed? Tell me what I can do?"

"I just need my daughter to make her grand entrance already." Olivia picked up her head and gave him a shocked expression. "Ooops. I wasn't supposed to tell anyone so act completely surprised when James announces it in the Times in a full page spread." He joked.

Olivia giggled and laid her head back on his shoulder and looped her arm through his. "A baby girl. That is amazing. I'm so happy for the two of you. How is the mom doing? Is she having a tough labor?"

"Let's don't act like either one of us knows anything about labor. I have no idea if it's hard or normal? It can't be easy when you think about where the baby has to exit from." They both shuddered and crossed their legs. "She's dilated to nine so it won't be much longer. She's really progressed quickly from what the nurses have said." Cyrus' phone beeped and he sighed. "That's James. Probably letting me know they need more ice."

"Well, get back in there, dad. If we can do anything please let us know." The three of them stood up and Cyrus told them he would tell them as soon as the baby arrived. Cyrus shook Fitz's hand and hugged Olivia and walked through the door.

Olivia and Fitz sat back down and she picked up a magazine that was dated a year ago. She flipped through it in minutes and threw it back down on the coffee table in front of them. "How long does it take to have a baby?"

"Why on earth are you asking me? I've never had a baby before!" He exclaimed.

She put her hand on his leg and said, "While that's good to know, it was a rhetorical question. Relax. I'm just used to a face paced world. Birthing a baby seems to happen really slow."

"We'll just have to keep that in mind for when we have our first baby." Fitz said all smiles.

"Maybe we should walk down to the gift shop and look around for flowers or an outfit or something?" She offered, changing the subject.

"Yea. That would be nice. I don't think you're supposed to show up without a present or something. Right?" He asked.

"Why on earth are you asking me? I've never had a baby before." She grinned at him.

"One day, Miss Pope. One day."

"If you want my father to continue to let you live, you're going to have to put a ring on a certain finger of mine before you get me pregnant. You do realize that?"

"So you're saying you want babies with me?" He asked with a proud grin.

"Whoa! You said baby. As in one baby. Now you're changing it to babies? Plural?"

"You didn't answer my question."

"You didn't answer mine either."

"I asked you first."

"You want me to have a baby or babies with someone who acts like they are twelve years old?"

"Thirteen. I just recently had a birthday. Why are you constantly forgetting that?" He mused and kissed her nose. "Just answer the question. Do you want to have a baby or babies with me?"

Hopeful Fitz was damn near perfect. Olivia could tell he was anxiously waiting to hear her answer. He had asked the question so point blank that there was no way to reply with sarcasm this time. And damn if she hadn't thought about having a baby with him. He would be the cutest dad ever. He would be so patient and loving and a complete pushover. Especially if it was a girl. That was a thought that brought a chuckle from her.

And even though the bond she felt with Elizabeth and Megan, when they spent the night with them, didn't make her the perfect mother material, Olivia realized that sitting around second guessing herself didn't make her a bad one either. But Olivia knew she had more than enough people in her life who would help and support them and spoil the perfect tiny human rotten. She was going to end up being someone's mother at some point in life. It was a scary thought, but she had the right man in her life to help her through it. Damn his perfect ways. The baby would probably be an exact replica of him too. She would do all the hard work for nine months and for spite, the kid would enter the world looking like Fitz. She cut her eyes at him and shook her head. What a cute person to be a replica of though.

"Is that a no? It's ok if it is." He was hoping for a yes, but he had her and that was everything to him. Life was good the way it was.

"Actually I do want to have a baby with you someday. We'll start with just one baby in this conversation for now." She watched his face split open in a huge grin. He picked her up and spun her around. "But! If our first child acts just like you, we aren't having any more after that. I mean, I want him or her to be like you. But not just like you. I don't think I could take a mini Fitz running around the house full of sarcasm. As adorable as that would be."

"All I heard was I do." Fitz thought his heart would explode with joy. She just agreed to having one baby with him. He'd convince her of more kids later.

"I'm pretty open about most things, but I want to say 'I do' before I have a baby. So the ball is in your court, Mr. Grant."

"So you want to get married and have...a baby with me? Let's go to the courthouse right now! I'm pretty sure I can get you pregnant tonight! I'm very good at what I do." He boasted.

"Easy there, Speed Racer. We are not getting married at the courthouse. We're not even engaged yet. And we are not having a baby immediately. And right now, we are at the hospital. So none of those things are happening today. But I do want both of those things with you." She admitted with all honesty.

Fitz couldn't believe that Olivia had just spoken those words out loud. She wanted to get married. And she wanted to have a baby. With him. This morning he thought life was good. Right now it was pretty damn near perfect. He covered up his delirious grin with and put on his best poker face. "What does your schedule look like tomorrow?"

Olivia rolled her eyes on a giggle and wrapped her arms around his neck. "No. Not tomorrow either. I want a wedding, Fitz. I want you."

"I want you to have whatever kind of wedding you want, Liv." Fitz breathed and captured her lips in a sweet kiss right there in the middle of the waiting room. "And I want however many babies you want to have with me. I love you so much."

Remembering where they were, Olivia pulled out of his arms and away from his skilled mouth. "I love you too. But we need to go buy something for this baby."

"Yes, dear." Fitz said, feeling completely domesticated already. It earned him a smack on his arm.

The happy couple were very touchy feely with each other in the gift shop, never leaving each other's side. Fitz was looking through racks of tiny pink baby clothes. He was amazed at how small everything was. It had been a long time since Elizabeth and Megan were born. He had forgotten how minuscule newborn things were.

He held up a onesie that said 'Daddy's girl' on it and showed it to Liv. "This is genius. Both Cyrus and James will think it's about them. No one gets their feelings hurt." He grinned at his own thinking.

"I like that one." She too was flipping through the rack of onesies with cute sayings on them. And then she stopped. "Found the winner." She held it up for Fitz to read.

He chuckled at it and read it out loud. "'If dad says no my aunt will say yes'. That's a good one too. Let's get a box of those pink gum cigars too. Cyrus and James can pass them out to their visitors."

After everything was paid for, the happy couple left the gift shop and got directions from a nurse for the cafeteria. Fitz carried their purchases and held her hand as they walked. They each got a cup of hot cocoa and sat down side by side at an empty table. "Are you going to work today?" He asked through a yawn.

"This is work. I'm standing by a client through a process I helped him start." She grinned at him. "I've got to call Abby and let her know I won't be there, but my explanation will go something like that. What about you?"

He held up two fingers and yawned again. "Two hours of sleep will make for a very grumpy boss. I'm going back to bed when we get home. Is my soon to be fiancé going to join me?"

She shot him a bland look, held up her left hand, and pointed at her ring finger. "I don't see a ring here. I'll do what I want."

Fitz grabbed her sides and started tickling her. "Reeeeeally?"

"Fitz, stop it!" She shrieked.

"Tell me you love me," he said through a grin.

"Fine. I love you." She was laughing hard and trying to swat his large hands away.

Fitz stopped tickling her and tucked a stray hair behind her ear. "I absolutely adore you."

"The feeling is mutual most of the time." She said grinning. "Maybe this baby will make her grand entrance pretty soon and we can end up in bed a lot sooner than we planned?"

"Are you trying to kill me with sex? I have to rest a little bit, you greedy thing." He teased.

"You sound like an old man. Maybe I shouldn't marry you? What if you can't keep up with me?"

"When have I ever not been able to keep up with you? Name one time and I will personally hand you over to a younger version of myself."

"You would do that? Really?"

"Hell no! The search is over and you are all mine. All of those young fools had their chance before I met you. It's too damn bad if they weren't paying attention to the most beautiful woman in New York." He waited for it.

"Just New York huh?" She knew what he was doing.

"Well, we can add Chicago to the list too. That's a lot of acreage, Liv."

"If you ever want to see my naked acreage again then you'll stop saying stupid things." Fitz zipped his lips shut and gazed over her body.

That annoying noise was back and Fitz rolled his eyes as Olivia laughed at him. She picked up her phone, seeing it was Cyrus and said, 'Hey. Any news yet? Already? That was fast! Yea of course. We're in the cafeteria but we're heading up there now. Congratulations!" Olivia dropped her phone in her purse and told Fitz, "We've got to go. She's here!"

"That was fast. Let's go upstairs and see the next spoiling victim." He picked up the bag, held her hand, and they threw their empty paper cups away.

Fitz and Olivia sat in the uncomfortable chairs in the waiting room watching the door, in hopes that James or Cyrus would come through it to bring them back to see the baby. Almost forty-five minutes later, Cyrus floated through the door with a huge smile on his face. Fitz and Olivia stood up immediately and she hugged his neck. He looked exhausted but happier than Olivia had ever seen him.

"Well, show me a picture of my brand new niece!" Olivia said giddily. Cyrus pulled his phone out from his pants pocket and flipped through dozens of photos of his new daughter. "She is absolutely beautiful. Have the two of you picked a name for her yet?"

"Ella," Cyrus said with a dreamy smile on his face. "Ella Beene. Come and meet her. But be warned. James hasn't stopped crying since she arrived. If it wasn't so cute, it would be really annoying."

The three of them walked down the white walled hallway, around corners to almost the last room on the hall. Cyrus informed them that the mother didn't want to hold her or even look at her. That Ella's birth mother was in the room next door recovering. A closed door separated them.

When they walked into the room, James was sitting in a chair with his shirt off, holding the baby on his chest. Olivia silently looked at Cyrus with lots of questions. "It's called skin to skin. It's a way for the baby to bond with her parents. I gave James the honors of that one."

"What he means is," James quietly interrupted. "He doesn't want to be seen with his shirt off. That's all. Come over here and meet our daughter Ella, Liv."

Olivia crept a little closer to father and daughter to see baby Ella's face. James pulled the blanket down a little and a perfect, tiny, brown face squinted at the light and blinked her eyes repeatedly. They eventually opened and landed on Olivia for just a few moments. And then closed again. "Oh my gosh! She is absolutely beautiful!" Olivia whispered before carefully hugging James.

"Did you have doubts that my daughter would be anything less than gorgeous, Liv? She is flawless in every way." A tear fell down James' face. "Here comes the tears again. I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry. I'm on the verge of tears myself. She is amazing. Really."

"Do you want to hold her?" James offered.

"Really?" Olivia asked with wide eyes. She remembered her earlier conversation with Fitz about them having their own kids and said, "I would love to hold her." She went to the sink and washed her hands as if she was a surgeon going in to operate on someone.

James stood up and waited for Olivia to sit down. "You have to be careful of her head, so support it with your arm."

Olivia froze and panic spread across her face. "What happens if I do it wrong? I don't want to hurt her."

"You're not going to hurt her, aunt Liv. It sounds weird, but it comes naturally. You'll know exactly what to do somehow." James said gently.

"But you'll get her if I screw it up, right?" She asked, not completely convinced.

"Of course. But you'll be fine. Honest. You ready?"

Olivia looked over at Fitz, who was quietly watching her exchange with James. He nodded his head in encouragement to her and she breathed a little easier. "As I'll ever be."

James placed the baby into her hands, careful to put the infant's head in the crook of Liv's left arm and not to scratch her with the hospital bracelet on his wrist. James put his shirt back on and watched Olivia hold Ella with a big smile on his face. "Hey sweet girl. I'm your aunt Olivia. Yes I am. You and I are going to have lots of adventures together. Yes we are. We'll have to keep most of them a secret from your daddies though."

Fitz took the few steps to where Olivia was sitting with the baby and crouched down to their level. "This is gonna be your uncle Fitz when he stops dragging his a...booty and asks me to marry him."

"Did you say marriage?!" James said excitedly. Cyrus poked him in the ribs and he immediately quieted down. James pointed a finger at Olivia and said, "We are going to talk about this very soon!"

"You are a beauty, aren't you Ella?" Fitz said quietly. Ella opened her eyes and looked at Fitz. "Hi." He said grinning. He reached his finger down and watching her little fist close around it and sigh. She was completely enchanted.

"That 'hi' gets me every time too, Ella. It's a shame you can't talk yet, because I'm pretty sure you could ask him for a car right now and he'd go buy you one." Olivia grinned. Fitz leaned closer to her and pecked her lips. "Do you want to hold her, babe?"

"Nah. She looks completely content right where she is. And I'm really content watching the two of you." He said, never taking his eyes off the baby. "You're a natural, Liv."

The baby started squirming and a minute later let out a cute little wail. "What's the matter sweet girl? Do we need a diaper change?" She looked up at James and Cyrus. "Is it ok if I check her diaper? Or do one of you want to do it?"

Cyrus gave her an 'are you kidding me look' and James said, "Go ahead. We have a few years of changing diapers ahead of us. This is just the beginning."

Olivia carefully stood up and walked over to the baby bed on wheels the hospital left in the room. She laid Ella down and peeled her out of the thin blanket she was covered up with. The wailing got louder. "Someone doesn't like to be naked huh? We'll try to hurry this up ok sweet girl? I know."

She peeled back the little tabs and took a peek inside. No poop. Olivia cheered a little on the inside. She gently wiped her and picked up a fresh diaper, marveling at the itty bitty size of it before putting it under her bottom and bringing it up to cover the front of her body. She pulled the tabs across Ella's tiny hips and stuck them to the front of the diaper. Not a bad for a first time, Olivia thought to herself.

She had no idea how to wrap her back up in the blanket when Fitz appeared by her side and said, "Let me." He bundled her up all warm and cozy and cradled her in his arms before Olivia got the chance. "That's better isn't it, Ella Bella?" He cooed at her.

"Ella Bella?" Olivia asked blandly.

"Quiet, Miss Pope." He said. "We are having a moment. Aren't we, Ella? Yes we are."

"James, come and get your daughter before Fitz walks out with her. He's edging toward the door as we speak." Olivia warned on a chuckle.

"Forget about that," James said in a low voice. "What's this about the two of you getting married? When did that come about?"

"I think someone is jealous, Ella Bella. Yes I do." Fitz rambled to the sleeping infant.

Olivia rolled her eyes and laid her head on James' shoulder. "We had a conversation earlier. I love him. And I want to marry him and eventually have a baby with him."

"This is huge. Marriage and an eventual baby? I never thought I'd see you settle down, Liv. It's nice to see you so happy. He's very good for you. I'm thrilled that you finally found the one. For the record, you're going to be a great wife and mother. Eventually."

They watched Fitz having a serious conversation with a sleeping Ella and a few minutes later she started fussing. "I think Miss Ella is ready to eat." James announced. Fitz handed the proud daddy his daughter and watched him open and attach a sterile nipple to a bottle of formula the hospital provided. He sat down with her and started feeding her.

"We're gonna go, guys. Thank you for calling us and letting us come by to meet her. She really is beautiful." Liv gushed. "If you need anything at all, please call me. I'll even just come hold her while the two of you sleep if you need me to."

Cyrus shook hands with Fitz and said, "I'm sorry for making you wake the small grizzly bear. I'm sure that wasn't pleasant. I wish I could have seen it firsthand though." The older man chuckled.

"Please don't make me do that ever again," Fitz pleaded.

Olivia chuckled and kissed James and Ella on the forehead followed by a hug to Cyrus. "You three get some sleep. I love you all and will see you soon."

"Nite you two," Cyrus said as they walked out the door of the hospital room.

As they walked down the hall, past the waiting room, and got onto the elevators, Olivia said with excitement in her voice, "Ella is absolutely beautiful. I want one."

"Eventually though, right?" Olivia continued babbling as Fitz thought his own thoughts. He could sense her excitement. It was contagious. She went from not talking about babies to wanting one in the span of a few hours. He didn't understand it but neither did he question it. He had to come up with a plan to propose first. Something worthy of Olivia. And he had to talk to Abby about that thing. Fitz had lots to do and it had to be perfect for his perfect girl. Oddly, he was feeling no pressure. Just joy.


	45. Locked Out

_Yall, this is gonna be a little painful. But breathe with me. You should know me well enough by now to know that my Olitz does not split up. They handle things together. Please keep that in mind as you read this chapter._

Locked Out

"I'm sorry, Liv. I completely forgot about the field trip when I said I'd go with you to see Cyrus and James bring Ella home this afternoon. I hope you aren't too disappointed?" He said holding her back to his chest, watching her get ready.

"I understand. It's a busy time for you at the bakery. We can go together and visit them once they are settled in. Maybe next week?" She offered. It stung a little that he wasn't able to go with her, but then again, he wouldn't be there to hog the newborn. That was something.

"I'll look at my schedule and we'll pick a day that works for both of us. I can't wait to get my hands back on little Ella Bella."

Olivia chuckled at his nickname for the infant. She turned in his arms facing him and reached up to toy with the hair on the back of his neck. "Little Ella Bella already has you wrapped around her finger. You're a goner. It's cute to see. And a good learning experience for me. For...eventually."

He grinned widely at her and pulled her closer. "I can't wait to get you knocked up."

Olivia threw her head back and laughed loudly at him. "You are such a romantic."

"You want-a romance, no?" He said trying out a bad Spanish accent. He raised one eyebrow and pursed his lips, causing her to laugh some more.

"Go to work, weirdo. I'll send you pictures of Ella."

She walked away from him, but Fitz caught her arm and pulled her back up against his chest. "I love you more than you know." He leaned down and brushed his lips over hers feather light. "Don't ever forget it."

"Mmmmmm. That was a good move." She said still in his arms and smiling like a fool. "You got any more new moves to show me?"

"You are insatiable, woman. Stop trying to corrupt me with sex! We have to go to work." Fitz chuckled at her and kissed her again. The breathless kind that makes you want more and forget you ever need oxygen. "But the answer is yes. Hurry home tonight and I'll show you."

"How the hell am I supposed to be productive today after hearing that?" She whined.

"Sounds like a personal problem, Miss Pope. Have a good day." He kissed her cheek and walked out the front door.

Once she was in the office, Olivia stopped at her assistant's desk and said, "Yvonne, would you please tell Abby that I need to see her in my office as soon as she can get away? I'll need you in there too please."

"Sure thing boss." Yvonne picked up her phone and dialed Abby's extension. "Hey. Olivia wants to see us in her office when you get a minute." Their conversation continued wondering what she wanted or was up to. Abby said she'd be there in thirty minutes and they ended the call.

Olivia got settled in her office and sat down at her desk. She listened to her voicemails and then checked her emails for anything of importance. Nothing pressing was found and she started shuffling through the files Yvonne had put on her desk which had court dates coming up. She had some work to do and would end up putting in a long day herself. Seeing the Beene family at the end of it would make everything worthwhile.

Abby and Yvonne showed up twenty minutes later, both were anxious about what Olivia had to share with them. Could be work related. Could be personal. They hoped for the latter because it was always more exciting. "What's up, Liv?" Abby asked as she took a seat in one of the visitor chairs beside Yvonne.

"Cyrus and James had their baby last night. A little girl they named Ella." Olivia began. "You've got to see pictures of her. She's so cute!"

Olivia walked around her desk and showed her two friends the pictures Cyrus had sent her. "Ohmygod, Liv. She is the most adorable little thing! How are Cyrus and James doing?"

"They are perfectly content with her. James was doing skin to skin with her and I swear, it was the sweetest thing I have ever seen. They are going home from the hospital later this afternoon and I'm going to meet them at their house to help them get settled in with her. But that's not why I asked the two of you to come in here."

"Okayyyy. So what's going on?" Yvonne asked hesitantly.

"While Fitz and I were at the hospital we had an interesting conversation about babies.

"You're pregnant?" Abby shrieked, followed by Yvonne. They stood up and did a happy dance together. "This baby is gonna be..."

"Sit down. There is no baby." Olivia said. "Not yet."

"Yet? Ohmygod but the two of you are planning to have a baby?" Abby asked. Her voice got higher with every word she said.

"I told him I want to be married before I have a baby." She grinned.

"Did he propose?" Abby grabbed Olivia's left hand looking for a ring. "Where is it? I know that he..."

"You know that he what, Abby?" Olivia asked, jerking her bare hand away from her best friend. "You wanna tell me something?"

"I was gonna say I know that he will buy you some massive satellite of a ring to stick on your finger warning all men to stay away when he does propose." Abby hoped Olivia believed the quick cover up. It wasn't a lie exactly. "So where is it?"

"How do you know what it looks like?" Olivia asked folding her hands across her chest.

"What? I don't. How would I? I was making an observation. Knowing Fitz he'll probably have a billboard put up saying 'She's taken!' He's crazy when it comes to you." Please buy that load of crap, Abby thought to herself.

Olivia chuckled and rolled her eyes. "He probably will. He really is ridiculous sometimes."

Abby quietly let out the breath she had been holding. "So what exactly brought this conversation up? I mean, it's about time but why now?"

"Well, he asked me if I wanted to ever have a baby with him. It was just one of those moments when I felt like telling him how I felt about it instead of answering with sarcasm. And it wasn't just because we were in a hospital about to see a newborn. I've been thinking about what life would be like to be married to him. And having a baby with him. I've been thinking about it a lot actually. It was really terrifying to say out loud to him, but kind of freeing too, you know? Getting married feels like the natural next step for us. I know we haven't been together a long time, but when I think about the future, he's what I see. I love him and I want to marry him."

"And have babies with him?" Abby squealed.

"A little further down the road, yes. He makes me happier than I've ever been before. He is good to me and I know that he loves me. Why wouldn't I want that for the rest of my life?"

"We all want that for the rest of our lives. I think it's great that you've found it, realize it, and are making plans to keep it. I'm really happy for you, Olivia." Yvonne said. "Plus, he's hot as hell. Your babies are going to be gorgeous genetic wonders!" The three of them smiled knowingly at each other.

"You deserve to be this happy every day for the rest of your life. You do. And if he's the one you want, then I'm behind you one hundred percent." Abby stated.

"Me too," Yvonne echoed.

"I'm glad you both feel that way. Because whenever Fitz and I do get married I really want you" she pointed at Abby, "to be my matron of honor and I want you," Olivia pointed at Yvonne, "to be my bridesmaid. Please say yes!" She begged with her hands together.

"Hell yes!" They said loudly in unison. The three women stood up and shared a watery but happy group hug. None of them cared about what anyone might see if they glanced through the glass door of Olivia's office.

"We need to keep this between the three of us for now, because obviously Fitz hasn't proposed to me yet. And I don't want to look like a crazy bridezilla when I am in fact, still single. I just wanted to share this with the two of you because you are my friends and I trust you to keep it to yourselves."

"No problem, Liv. But you'll tell us the minute he does propose, right?" Yvonne asked.

"Of course. I mean, it'll probably be the next day because we'll be celebrating in our bed all night long," she started dancing by herself while the other two giggled at her. "Ok, Enough girl chat. We need to get busy and be productive. Go away." Once the two women were gone, Olivia got down to business with her files again.

Hours later her stomach rumbled and Olivia looked at her watch to see what time it was. She was surprised to find that it was after two o'clock. Deciding that she was past ready for lunch, she locked up her files, picked up her purse, and left the building.

She decided that she wanted to see her goofy Spanish lover, so she drove to The Sweet Spot in hopes of catching a glimpse of him surrounded by kids on their field trip. She turned up the radio and was singing along with the song that was playing. She was in a great mood and had every reason to be. She had amazing friends who supported and encouraged her in the things she faced in life. She loved her job although if the truth be told, even if it was only told to herself, she felt the all-consuming importance it once held in her life slipping some. She still looked forward to it every morning but the end of her day, when she came home to Fitz, that was what she looked forward to even more.

Fitz was her everything. He meant the world to her and she loved being with him. It didn't matter what they did or where they went, she just loved being around him. He balanced her out and she knew she did the same to him. It amazed her that one person had made such a difference in her life in such a short amount of time. She wondered how she had lived her life for so long without him? She shook the question off and decided that it didn't matter because he was with her now. The smile on her face was so big it made her cheeks hurt. Still she couldn't stop smiling.

Olivia lucked out and slid into a parking spot in front of the bakery. She got out, locked the doors, and walked inside. There was a sign on the window alerting the patrons that it was a field trip day and to please be patient with the staff. No one was in line so she walked up to the counter where she saw Charlotte wiping small fingerprints off the display case. "Hey there. Busy day, huh?"

"Field trip days are always a little extra chaotic. But in the best way possible. How have you been, Olivia?" Charlotte asked as she finished making the glass fingerprint free.

"I've been really good. Great actually." She said beaming.

"Great is wonderful. I love it when I'm in a season of great! Can I get you anything for lunch? I've got some really good chicken salad I'd be happy to put on a croissant for you?"

Olivia's stomach rumbled again and she said, "That sounds really good. I'll take one of those and something to drink. Anything is fine." A few minutes later, Charlotte handed Olivia her lunch on a blue tray but refused her money. "Will Fitz and the kids be coming back out here any time soon?"

Charlotte looked at her watch and said, "Umm they should be back out here in about ten minutes or so. Then they will get on their bus and head back to school to go home for the day."

"And is that when the next group shows up?" Olivia asked.

"The next group?" Charlotte asked. "There isn't another group coming today. The kids can only come on field trips like this during school hours. And they have to be back in time to get their stuff and get on their regular bus to go back home with the rest of the kids."

"Oh." Olivia said. She understood what Charlotte was saying and it made sense. But she didn't understand if another group wasn't coming later, why Fitz had used that as an excuse for the reason he couldn't come to Cyrus and James' house with her. She'd ask him about it later. Olivia carried her tray to an empty table and sat down to enjoy her lunch.

Just as she was finishing her lunch, lots of excited voices started getting louder. Olivia threw her trash away and sat back down, wanting to watch Fitz and the kids.

"And that is how the icing is made that we put on top of the cakes and cupcakes..." Olivia heard a familiar voice say. She immediately smiled and listened attentively as Fitz asked the kids, "Are there any questions?"

A little girl raised her hand and Fitz pointed at her. "How come cupcakes are so little? They taste so good but you don't get very much."

Fitz grinned at her, opened the display case, and pulled out two huge platters full of beautifully decorated cupcakes. He picked one up and squatted down in front of the little girl, giving it to her. "Would you be able to hold onto a whole cake and eat it?"

Her eyes grew huge and she quietly shook her head. "Noooo. I tried it once when it was my little bruver's birfday. But I just got cake all over me and the floor. My mom sure was mad. My brover only had just ice cream and no cake because I spilled it."

Fitz laughed at her story. "Cupcakes taste SO good. But they are little so they are easier to hold and you can eat the whole thing all at one time." He poked her lightly in the belly. "And you won't make a big mess when you eat a cupcake either." He stood up and said, "Alright. Everyone gets a cupcake but you have to eat it before you get on the bus. Don't be trying to put it in your pocket and save it for later or show your friends."

Olivia chuckled watching the hands grab the pretty treats and shove them into their mouths. Charlotte and a few of the teachers sprang into action giving each child a wet wipe when they were finished to clean their face and hands with. "Ok, boys and girls. What do we tell Mr. Fitz for letting us come to his bakery today?"

"Fank you, Mr. Fitz!" They happily yelled.

"You're welcome. I hope you all had a good time today. I'll see you next time. Bye!" He said as they made a single file line and walked outside and got on the bus.

Olivia stayed in her seat and watched Fitz glance at his watch and speak to Charlotte as he took off his apron. Charlotte pointed behind him and said something and Fitz spun around, a look of shock on his face. He covered it quickly with a smile and made his way to where she was. "Hey! I didn't expect to see you here today." He pulled her close for a hug. Olivia immediately sensed that something was off about him.

"Are you ok, babe?" She asked from inside his arms.

Fitz pulled back from her and said, "Of course I'm ok. You're here. Why do you ask?"

"I don't know. You just seem...distracted somehow. Are you alright?" She searched his face for any clue but saw nothing but a big smile.

"I'm a little tired. Whenever the kids come to visit the place is always more hectic and that makes us fall behind on other things sometimes. Have you eaten lunch yet?" He asked.

"Yea. Charlotte was kind enough to make me something. Have you eaten anything?" She was still getting the weird vibe from him but it seemed to be less obvious. Maybe he was just tired?

"I haven't had anything yet. I have to run a few errands for the bakery because we have another group of kids coming in tomorrow and I was going to grab something while I was out. But all that can wait because you're here." He leaned down and pecked her lips. "How has your day been?"

Maybe that was what he meant when he said he couldn't join her to see the new family? It made sense and it was field trip related. Olivia relaxed and gave him a smile. "So you're having a good day? You were very cute with those kids."

"Oh yea? How cute?" He grinned at her.

She stood up on her tip toes and whispered something suggestive to him. When she pulled back from him she took satisfaction in seeing his eyes a little darker blue. The lust in them was unmistakable. "That cute" was all she said.

He kissed the tip of her nose and then hummed happily when Olivia grabbed the back of his neck and pulled his mouth to hers. He opened one eye and looked around while Olivia kissed him. While there weren't any kids there anymore, there were customers scattered around enjoying lunch, and the show. He broke the kiss and whispered. "Liv. You've got to stop sexually harassing me at the workplace. People are watching."

Olivia quickly looked around and caught a few curious eyes and smirking mouths. "Oooops. Sorry. I forgot my manners. I happen to know a really good lawyer if you need someone to represent you in your sexual harassment case?"

A huge mischievous grin split his face. "I would love to sexually harass you in a court room. That would be so much fun!"

"And on that note I have to get back to work. And so do you. Go run your errands. I'll see you back home after I go get all the Ella Bella snuggles." She stuck her tongue out at him.

"That's just mean, Liv. Bring me back some pictures of her or there will be hell to pay. And tell her I'll be coming to see her soon."

"You are so bossy, no?" She giggled.

"You love me. Si?" He said pointing to his lips. After she rolled her eyes and pecked them he said, "Go away so I can be productive."

"I love you crazy man. I'll see you later." She walked out the door and Fitz watched from the window as she got into her car and drove off. He immediately sprinted to his office, grabbed his car keys, told Charlotte he would see her tomorrow, and drove off himself. He didn't know if he would make it in time. He was going to have to push the speed limit today.

Hours later Olivia walked in the house to a delicious smell. She threw her keys into the bowl on the small table near the door and set her purse down as well. Fitz was in the kitchen wearing an apron and cooking something mouthwatering. She walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist and said, "What's cooking good looking?"

"I have prepared for you some-a Spanish meatballs. You like? Yes?" Fitz knew he was being ridiculous, but he also knew she loved it.

Still behind him, she slid her hands to the crotch of his jeans, cupped him as he flinched, and said, "These are my favorite meatballs."

Fitz loudly dropped the spoon he was using and turned around to face her. "We can change the menu if you want? And while these meatballs won't be done for another half hour, you can eat whenever you're ready." He reached around to grab two handfuls of her ass and squeezed it none too gently.

Olivia grabbed a carrot from a bowl on the counter beside him and took a bite of it while sliding out of his greedy grasp. "Can't. I have to print something for work that Abby emailed to me while I was seeing the baby. Ella told me she doesn't miss you at all, by the way." She giggled.

"That's hateful. You know that baby adores me in every way. You're never getting my meatballs again." He said as he turned back around to the stove to finish cooking.

Olivia started walking towards their shared office with a grin on her face. He was such a terrible liar. She knew just as well as he did that if she wanted his meatballs, she could have them anywhere and anytime. "I need to borrow some copy paper from your desk, but I'm going to have to cross the line. Do I have your permission, Master?"

Fitz smiled to himself and shouted back, "Don't act like you haven't been on my side of that room before when I wasn't home. I grant you my permission though."

Twenty minutes later he shouted, "Liv? Dinner's ready!" He set the table and plated their food but she hadn't come out yet. He poured them something to drink and set them on the table. And still she hadn't come out. Wondering what was taking her so long, he went to pull her away from whatever she was working on to eat.

When he walked into the spare room he saw that she had pushed his chair out of the way and was sitting on the floor where the chair had been. "Did you find the pa...?" The question died on his lips as he saw her pulling on his bottom locked drawer. "What are you doing?"

"You have a locked drawer." It was a statement, not a question.

He said the only thing he was able to say at the moment. "Yes." Fear was starting to creep inside of him.

"Why?" she asked.

"Why do I have one?" he asked, hoping she'd drop it.

"Why is this drawer locked?" She demanded loudly as she continued pulling on it.

"What?" He asked in a panic.

"I said, why is this drawer locked?" She repeated.

"I heard you the first time, Liv." He took the few steps to where she was sitting and reached his hands down to pull her up. "Let's go eat dinner. It's already on the table."

She jerked her head back and gave squinted at him. "I don't want to go eat dinner. I want to know why you have a locked drawer in your desk."

"I have important documents in there, like my birth certificate, and I keep it locked so that in case of a break in they won't get stolen. It's less obvious than a safe." He patiently explained.

"Oh. So you aren't hiding anything from me in there?" She boldly asked.

"What? No! Why would you think that?" Fitz had a feeling where this conversation was headed and felt a bead of sweat run down his back.

"Alright. Then open it." She said with a defiant smile.

"You want me to open this drawer to prove that I'm not hiding anything from you? Is that what you're saying? Really, Liv? You think I'm being sneaky or deceptive? Why would you think that?" He was in fact hiding something from her, but he wasn't about to tell her what it was. Or show her.

"I didn't say that you were being sneaky or deceptive. You did. I just find it odd that you have a locked drawer in our house and didn't tell me about it."

"I've always kept it locked. The subject just never came up before." He said with great exasperation as he threw his hands up in the air.

"So open it. Where is the key by the way?"

She had him there. Fitz kept the key on him at all times except for when he was sleeping. He made a show of looking in the top drawer and then moving things on top of his desk looking for it. He knew it was in his pocket and knew how well that news was going to go over with her when she learned it. He patted his shirt pocket for show and then reached his left hand into his jeans, feeling the small metal key sitting there. "Here it is."

Olivia held out her hand for the key, but he was not going to give it to her. He gave her what was thankfully a true answer. "The key sticks sometimes and you have to wiggle it. I'll do it."

She got up and took a step back from his desk allowing him to unlock the drawer. But she watched with eagle eyes, making sure the key did stick. And it did. Maybe she was overreacting a little bit, but the fact that he hadn't told her about this drawer didn't sit well with Olivia. It was almost the same thing as lying.

Fitz knew he had to make this quick. He just had to open the drawer, let her see that there were things in there that he had for protection and then close it again. Thankfully his birth certificate was near the top, along with old bank statements and the deed for the bakery. He worried about the envelopes he had collected from the freezer in his house before he left. And the thing he had broken the speed limit to pick up earlier that afternoon. She couldn't see those. But they were safely tucked away in the false bottom. He just had to show her enough to satisfy her curiosity. That sweat bead was starting to feel like a flowing river.

He pulled the drawer open and Olivia looked inside from where she stood. It wasn't as deep as it looked, but it was full of stuff just like he said it was. Bank statements, his passport, and a few other papers were neatly lying in the drawer. She felt like a fool for questioning him. She squatted down to have a closer look inside. She saw a set of keys and reached in for them. "What are these?" She quietly asked.

"Spare keys to the bakery." He explained. He knew how she was feeling. He could tell it in her voice. He hated that she didn't know she was right about the entire situation and was now feeling ridiculous about how she handled it. Just a few more days and he could explain everything to her. He hoped she would laugh about it. But there was no laughter today.

Olivia reached down to put the keys back and lost her balance. She fell forward, her hand pushing all of the envelopes to the back and tipping up the piece of wood separating the two halves of the drawer. Time froze and so did Olivia. Fitz however, sprang into action. He helped her stand up and threw everything back into the drawer haphazardly while Olivia looked on in complete bewilderment. He inserted the key, locked the drawer back and stuck the key back in his pocket.

"What the hell was that?" She shrieked when she remembered how to talk.

Fitz remained quiet. Probably not his best idea.

"Open that drawer again!" She shouted.

"No," he said quietly.

"Fitz! What else is in that drawer besides the crap you have on top? I want to know and I want to know right now!" She demanded loudly.

He reached for her, but she jerked away from him, shocking them both. "Babe..." He said softly.

"DO NOT BABE ME!" She screamed.

He ran his hands through his hair impatiently. It was time for as much honestly as he could give her. "Olivia. There is nothing in there that you need to know about right now."

"What the hell does that mean?"

Fitz sighed loudly and willed himself to be patient in this moment. "It means that I have something inside that drawer that I don't want you to know about, but..."

"Tell me what it is, Fitz! I wanna know! And don't give me some bullshit story about how you'll tell me later. We don't hide things from each other!"

Feeling completely frustrated and not knowing what else to do, Fitz nodded his head and walked out of the room. Walked out of the house. With Olivia shouting at his back the entire way.

She was shocked. He just left. He didn't answer her questions. He left her guessing about whatever he was hiding. She sank to the floor feeling bewildered, confused, and hurt. And that's when the tears started.


	46. Whispers in the Dark

_I literally just read the reviews for the last chapter for the first time. I was terrified of what you had to say, even though that needed to happen for what I have in mind for the chapter after this one. I don't know why I stressed. I have the BEST readers & reviewers ever. I appreciate all of you for being patient with me and sharing your own similar experiences. You guys friggin rock!_

Whispers in the Dark

Fitz walked outside and started pacing in the driveway. He had to figure out a way to get himself out of this situation. He could only think of one way to accomplish that but he wasn't willing to go to that extreme. Not yet. Think he commanded!

Olivia was furious with him. And scared. And leery. And probably didn't trust him anymore. The look on her face told him exactly how she felt the moment she discovered the fake bottom in his desk drawer. He never intended for her to find it. He hoped that she would see the drawer as just that; a drawer. But not Olivia. She saw it for what it was and freaked out. She wanted to know what he was hiding in it. How could he tell her? He couldn't. Not yet anyways. It wasn't part of the plan.

Why were women so damned nosy? The contents of that drawer were not for her eyes to see. He probably didn't help things by locking it back up and taking the key with him as she yelled? The argument really had gotten out of control. She had no idea what she was talking about. That's probably the part that bothered him the most. She didn't try to have a conversation with him about it. She just started yelling. And he didn't help by keeping his mouth closed and giving her no answers. Not that he could even if he wanted to. Because it wasn't any of her business.

He pulled his cell phone out of the pocket of his jeans. He scrolled through his contacts and called the only person he could talk to about this. He waited for her to answer as patiently as he could. Finally he got the chirpy, "Hey, pretty boy. What's up?"

"Abby! Hey. She found it."

"Liv? She found what?" After receiving silence on the line she said, "OHmygod! What did she say? She said yes, right? Did you get a picture of her face?"

"Let me clarify. She found the fake bottom in my desk. She didn't find IT. I didn't give her time to. I locked it back up, took the key, and walked outside. She's pretty pissed at me. She thinks I'm hiding something from her."

"You are hiding something from her." Abby grinned at his plight.

"She thinks I'm hiding something bad from her. Not something good. What am I supposed to do now?"

"You're gonna have to tell her."

"What? No way am I doing that! It's not part of the plan, Abby. You know that! Help me think of a way to get out of this situation."

Abby rolled her eyes. Men were such drama queens. "Tell her that you are looking at houses and you were keeping it quiet until you could close on one. It's not that difficult."

"So your advice to me is to lie to her?"

"Would you rather tell her the truth this time?"

"No." He huffed. "But I don't want to lie to her either. I don't understand why she went straight to thinking I was up to no good though? I thought she trusted me?"

"She does trust you, dummy. That's why she is freaking out. Because you intentionally hid something from her. Think about it from her point of view. The person she loves more than anyone else is hiding something from her and won't tell her what it is. And you probably reacted like you were hiding secret correspondence with another woman. Am I right?" She knew she was right. Just like she knew Fitz was screwed no matter how he handled this situation. Poor guy. She couldn't wait to hear the story from Liv at work tomorrow.

"Abby, you know I love that crazy little woman more than life itself. There is never going to be anyone else."

"I do know that. And Olivia knows that too. But the question you need to be asking yourself right now is what crazy things has she conjured up in her mind about what's in that drawer? As someone whose known her a lot longer, I can tell you it's nothing like what it actually is. It's all really bad stuff."

Fitz needed to go back into the house and talk with Olivia. They needed to get some things settled. He wasn't helping the situation by going outside instead of talking to her about what just happened. "I hear you, Abby. Thanks for the pep talk."

"Good luck. You're gonna need it." She sang before ending the call.

Fitz looked up at the front door and took a deep breath. If he absolutely had to tell her what he was hiding he would. But he wasn't going to lie to her no matter what. He shoved his phone back into his pocket and walked up the few steps and through the front door. "Liv?" He called out.

He heard nothing.

He continued into the living room, calling for her. He got no reply. He walked to their closed bedroom door and leaned his head on it. He heard her voice and turned his head to lay his ear against it to hear her better. She was on the phone with someone. After a few minutes he heard Olivia say 'momma' and knew right then that he was in the doghouse not only with Olivia but with Lila as well. If anyone made Lila's baby upset she would take care of them. Still he listened.

"...mom, I know but...Of course I love him...Yes I trust him...Then what is he hiding from me? No, it's serious mom! He locked it up tight and went outside. He never even bothered to explain himself. Who does that?"

Fitz couldn't take it anymore. He turned the doorknob and cleared his voice from inside their bedroom. Olivia turned around quickly from where she sat on their bed, made eye contact with him, and said into the phone, "I've got to go, mom. I'll talk to you soon. I love you too."

No sooner had the call ended than Fitz was squatted down in front of her. She wouldn't look at him. "Liv? I know you are mad at me right now. But can you listen for a minute? Please?"

"Are you going to tell me what you're hiding from me in your desk?" She asked.

"No. I'm not." Olivia stood up and Fitz stood up with her. He put his hands on her shoulders. "Listen to me. I want to tell you what's in there. But I can't. Not yet. But I promise you that it's nothing like whatever you have running through your mind right now. It's nothing bad. You need to believe me. I would never do anything to hurt you. You just need to trust me."

Olivia looked him in the eyes, searching for any tell that he wasn't being honest with her. She couldn't find anything. She just wanted to know what was going on. Fitz said it was nothing bad. She just wanted to deal with whatever it was together. "You broke a rule."

He knit his brow trying to understand what she was talking about. "What rule did I break?"

"We said no running! You ran." She said flatly.

"Liv, I went outside. I wouldn't exactly call that running. I needed to think."

"You locked that drawer and went out the front door as fast as you could instead of staying and talking it over with me. I call that running. The destination isn't important." She said folding her arms across her chest.

"You're right. I ran. I was wrong." This was not the time to knit pick. She was right. "I handled the whole thing wrong. And I'm sorry. But you need to know that I would never do anything that would hurt you. Ever. It's just not in me to intentionally do that." He reached for her hand and she let him hold onto it. "There is something in that drawer. I'm not going to lie to you about that. But it's not anything bad or something that would hurt you or hurt us. I promise you that. I'm just asking that you trust me. Can you do that?"

"Are you ever going to tell me what it is or show it to me?" She asked quietly.

"Of course I am. But not right now. I need some time. Ok?" He pulled her to his lap and she wrapped her arms around his neck as he wound his around her waist. "I'm sorry that I hurt your feelings. Can you forgive me for that? And for running?" Abby had been right. He needed to see it from Olivia's perspective. All she saw was him leaving.

"I trust you completely. You just reacted in a way that I've never seen before. It scared me to see you shut down and not talk it out with me."

"It's hard to talk to a yelling female." Fitz tried. "I guess we both handled it wrong."

Olivia laid her head on his shoulder. "We did. That was rough and I don't want to ever feel like that again. I called my mother on you."

"When will she be here to kick my ass?" Fitz asked in all seriousness.

"Actually, she just gave me some advice."

"Poison? Stabbing? Which method did she think was appropriate?"

Olivia giggled. "She asked me if I loved and trusted you. I said that of course I do. And then she said to just be patient. That she believed you were a good man who loved me back."

He laid his head on her shoulder and held her close. "She's right, you know."

"I do know. I'm really sorry I yelled at you. I'm sorry that I immediately assumed that you were doing something that would hurt me. And I'm sorry that I didn't trust you like I should." She admitted quietly still holding onto him tightly.

"I'm sorry that I didn't stay and talk it over with you. I'm sorry that I ran. I'm sorry that I made you feel the way you did. I'm sorry that we fought." He pulled away from her and noticed the tears on her cheeks. He wiped them away with the pad of his thumb. "Don't cry, Liv. I hate it when you cry."

"I'm sorry that we fought too. I love you so much and I was so scared that I was going to lose you when you walked out the door." She was sniffling and trying hard to keep the tears contained.

"Hey hey hey. That's not gonna happen. We probably aren't going to agree on everything all the time. We'll probably even argue sometimes too. But I'm not leaving. I'm here to stay. I'll always choose you. I love you, Liv."

"Let's don't ever argue again. If you agree with everything I say that will make things so much easier to accomplish that." She gave him a watery smile.

Fitz smiled back at her and said, "Not gonna happen, Miss Pope. I'll do everything in my power to make you happy and prevent you from crying, but I'm not going to agree with everything you say to make sure that happens."

Olivia sniffed and said, "You can't blame a girl for trying. Right?"

"I absolutely can't. Especially when it's my girl. Come here." He cupped her cheeks with his large hands and pulled her face to his, gently touching his lips to hers. "Better?"

"A little." Olivia touched her lips to his deepening the kiss and pulled him down onto her. Onto the bed. She slid her hands under his arms and up around his back and held on while his body settled between her legs. She released his shoulders a few moments later and pulled his black polo up his firm chest and over his head. She slowly ran her hands back down his hairy chest until they settled on the button on his jeans. "I need you" was all she said as her eyes met his.

Fitz nodded and followed her lead. He knew she needed tenderness and they both needed healing. "I always need you. But sex isn't going to fix anything, Liv. Are we okay? Because if you still have any reservations, we can talk it out some more. We'll talk all night if we have to. I never want to see that look on your face again and know I was the one who put it there. I'm sorry."

"No. Honestly, we are fine. I'd be lying if I said I'm not dying to know what's in that drawer. But I trust you completely. And if you say it's nothing bad then I trust you. Just like I trust that you will tell me whatever it is when you are able to. I promise we are good. I just need to be with you. I don't want to feel any space between us. I need for you to remind me of us and how strong we really are together."

Completely enchanted by her honestly, he whispered, "I love you so much" and kissed her again.

"I love you too, babe. Now take your pants off please." He kicked his way out of them and stilled once again. Olivia brought a hand up to the back of his head and brought it closer to her own. Her lips grazed over his and then sucked on his bottom lip for a moment. It was beautiful torture.

Fitz dipped his head to her neck where he pushed her hair away from her throat and kissed the soft skin there. Olivia turned her head in the opposite direction, giving him more access and started writhing under him. He picked his head back up and started to undo the buttons on her blouse with one hand and planted little kisses on her exposed cocoa flesh. She continued to slowly writhe adding little whimpers every so often.

He got up on his knees and pulled her skirt down her toned legs and deposited it on the floor, leaving her in her bra and panties. "You are so beautiful," he said reverently. He slid back up her body and kissed her, feeling Olivia's tongue slide into his mouth. He rolled them so that Olivia was on top of his chest and he could run his hands all over her body. He started by sliding her panties down her legs. When they were removed, she straddled him and pulled him up in a sitting position. He unhooked her bra, pulled it off of her shoulders, and threw it on the floor. They two of them sat there holding onto each other for long moments. "I love you, Liv."

She picked her head up from the crook of his neck and kissed his jawline until she reached his lips. "I love you more." She whispered and held him tightly.

"It's not possible." he said reaching down to put his hands on her hips and lifting her slightly so she was hovering over his hard length.

Olivia threw her head back and slowly slid down onto the entirety of him, moaning as every inch sank deeper inside of her. This bonding with him is what she needed. To be reminded of what they were. To remember that nothing could come their way that they couldn't handle together. She lifted her hips and felt him slide out of her smooth as silk. He groaned loudly as he held onto her back and eased himself back inside of her. She wrapped her arms and legs around him and laid her head on his shoulder. "Feels so good," she murmured in his ear.

Fitz was in complete agreement. Since she was feeling cuddly, he did all the work. Lifting her hips up and slowly pulling her back down sheathing himself into her heat. They always created perfection together, and their love making was no exception. He pulled her with him as he laid down on the bed and rolled them again, so that he was on top of her. Instinctively, her legs went around him as her hips started a sluggish pace. He lowered his head and traced her lips with his tongue before sticking it into her mouth. Her own tongue caressed his as she pulled him even closer to her. She couldn't seem to get close enough to him.

He reached his hand down between them and his thumb began lightly rubbing her center. Her legs squeezed against his body in response as he continued. He brought his thumb up and stuck it in his mouth, dragging it across his tongue. Olivia's eyes darkened as she watched him and continued to move her hips. "Babe, I need a taste. Please?" He begged.

Olivia never answered him vocally, but pulled her legs off of his waist and scooted further up on the bed, feeling him come out of her body. She settled herself on her elbows and watched him slither down her body and lick his lips. He placed gentle kisses on the inside of her thighs as he made his way to what he wanted. Fitz flattened his tongue and dragged it up her center until he reached the top. He heard her take a quick shallow breath and then he flicked his tongue once over her bundle of nerves and looked up at her. She was watching him intently as he did it again and again.

"Fitz, please!" She cried out.

He covered her with his mouth and hummed. Olivia screamed and her hips jerked wildly. "Please what? Tell me what you want."

"More." Was all she said.

"More like this?" He stuck a long slender finger inside her and slowly worked it in and out of her while his crafty tongue wrote his name between her lower lips.

"Oh god! Yes!" She screamed.

Her legs fell open wide giving him space to work. She clawed at his shoulder with one hand as the other one had a fistful of his hair and was pushing his face deeper.

Olivia's hips couldn't keep still and she felt his other hand reach up and roll her nipple between his finger and thumb. Her breathing was rapid and she moaned his name loudly. "Almost there. Don't stop." She panted out.

And he didn't stop. He felt her legs start to tremble and her insides clenched around his finger, and he knew she was on the brink. He quickened the pace of his finger as well as his tongue and seconds later she screamed his name and fell apart. He swiped his tongue over her a few more times as she shook from the orgasm. Fitz sat down on their bed and pulled her onto his lap so that she was straddling him.

"Now, now, now" she chanted.

He took the hint and pushed back into her, groaning from the feeling as if it was the first time. "You feel so good!" He groaned holding tightly onto her back and thrusting into her. "Do you think you have another one in you?" He asked. Olivia's head was on his shoulder. She shook it no in response causing Fitz to chuckle. "I bet I can get one more orgasm out of you in under two minutes. What do you want to bet on it?"

"If you can make it happen in under two minutes I'll blow you every day this week."

He actually smirked at her. "Mmmmm. I'd be a fool to not accept that bet. Challenge accepted." His hips immediately went into overdrive quickly pumping in and out of her. He hooked his arm under her knee and brought it up to her chest. The friction it provided had something stirring in her belly. She clenched her kegle muscles and Fitz grinned at her. "Holding back will only make the explosion worse for you."

Olivia shut her eyes tight and concentrated on not releasing but it was soooo hard to do with his long hard thickness hitting her spot every time he slid inside of her. She could feel herself quickly starting to crumble. His body felt exquisite on top of hers and the sensations he was causing were too damn much. Stifling back a moan, she bit the inside of her cheek instead.

Fitz swiveled his hips in a circle a few times and she suddenly screamed and clung to him, dragging deep breaths into her lungs like a person who almost drowned. He pecked her lips once and continued hammering into her until moments later he grunted and exploded himself.

He rolled off of her and laid on his back, feeling victorious. When his own breathing was regulated he said, "I think we will do it in a different place each night, as long as you're comfortable. What do you think, Miss Pope?"

She looked over at his sweaty and satisfied face. She loved that face. And the person attached to it. "I hate you." She said and rolled away from him onto her side.

He spooned her from behind and replied, "That's not what you were saying just a few minutes ago. I think you like me a lot more than you're letting on."

"From now on, no more bets while we are in bed together. You always win." She pouted.

Fitz couldn't see her face but he knew she was pouting. He climbed over her body and laid in front of her on his side. "I agree. But this bet most definitely stands!" He played with a loose strand of her hair between his fingertips. "I adore you with all that I am. Please don't ever forget that." He looked up into her eyes and saw the love she felt for him reflected there.

She smiled at him and put her hand on his chest. "You mean everything to me and I never want to lose you. Ok?"

"I'll do my absolute best. But I am a guy and we never get it right. I'm just asking that you be patient with me. Ok?"

"I can do that. And we are going to talk things out when they happen. Right?"

He rubbed his foot against hers. "Yes! We most definitely are. No more guessing what the other one is thinking. We already have great communication. It just needs to be a little bit better when we are angry. And yelling is not communicating. For either of us."

"And running is not an option ever again. In fact, we have the authority to physically stand in front of the other one to stop them if we even think they are contemplating about running." She said strongly.

"I agree with that. I'm really sorry that I scared you when I walked out the door. I hope you know that I love you more than anything and I am never going to leave you. You are my everything and I love you." He said with all sincerity.

"And I'm sorry that I yelled at you and made you feel like you were in an impossible situation. You weren't ready to tell me something. I should have listened to you instead of insisting on getting my own way. I'll work harder on that." She admitted.

"We both need to work on that. And we have all the time in the world to do it. It'll only get better if we realize what needs fixing and try to change it in ourselves. Our lives are gonna be great because we are determined to make it that way."

"There's no one I'd rather go through life with than you, Fitz." She pulled him close and held on tight, feeling completely at peace finally.

"You're the only one for me." He murmured into her neck. "But just so you know, I'll be home around six tomorrow. I'm thinking about laying on the kitchen table while you...how did you say it? Blow me. I'm sure I'll get more creative as the week goes on though. Does that work for you?"

Liv made a fake snoring noise but smiled in the dark room. All was well between them again. And they were both determined to do the work to keep it that way.


	47. It's Not Possible

It's Not Possible

"Liv, you have to get up. We have a full day of running errands ahead of us." Fitz softly coaxed from beside their bed. He had already showered, gotten dressed, and had a cup of coffee. She was enjoying her lazy Saturday and he wanted to get their to do list done so they could come home and be lazy together later.

Olivia rolled over, away from him and mumbled, "You go. I'll make it up to you later with sex."

He grinned at her and shook his head back and forth. He expected this type of reply from her and had a temptation of his own in mind to get her motivated. "Babe? If you get up and go with me, I'll buy you a pair of shoes."

She turned her head in his direction, but kept her body in the same position. "Why do you always know exactly what to say? I hate that your treats are always better than mine."

Fitz nibbled on her pouting bottom lip and said, "I disagree. I think your treats are superb. Now get your ass up so we can get this running around done."

She turned her body towards him. "Just come back to bed. We can do whatever you want next Saturday. Please?"

"Do you want me to smack your superb ass? Get up, woman. The shoes are waiting." He said.

"Fifteen more minutes!" She begged.

Fitz made a point of looking at his watch in front of her. "Fine. Fifteen more minutes. But if you aren't out of that bed in exactly fifteen minutes, I'm coming back in here and you won't like it."

She rolled her eyes at him. "What are you gonna do? Turn into the hulk?"

"Fifteen minutes, Miss Pope." He left their bedroom and walked out onto the porch and called Abby. "Hey."

"Is she up yet?" Abby asked excitedly.

"No. She did the fifteen more minutes thing."

"She would be up and in the car if she knew what this day had in store for her. I can't wait!"

"You've got everything covered? This has to be perfect, Abby. It's a lot."

"Really? You're going to choose this moment to question my skills? I got this, pretty boy."

"You've got a key to the house?" He was mentally ticking things off his list.

"Since the day she bought the place. Relax! Everything will be perfect." Abby was freaking out with trying to make sure everything would in fact be perfect for her best friend's proposal. She was grateful that Olivia's soon to be fiancé had put her in charge of everything. She was up to the task.

"If this goes exactly as planned I'll buy you a pair of shoes too."

"Too?" Abby asked.

"I had to bribe her to get up." Abby laughed over the phone and Fitz couldn't help but chuckle along. "Text me if you need anything. I mean anything! I want this to be perfect for her, Abs."

"I know you're nervous. But don't be. I've got this. We've planned this thing and gone over it more times than the guys on Ocean Eleven. It's going to be smooth and perfect and she's going to say yes. Text me when you are fifteen minutes away from spot number one."

"Thank you for your help, Abby. I know I'm over reacting. I'm just nervous. I've never proposed to anyone before and I want it to be a surprise as well as something she will always think back on with a smile on her face."

"It's gonna be great and she will love it. Thanks for trusting me to help. I mean, I have been in on it from the beginning, so it's only right that I'm involved. All I'm saying is you made the right choice in asking me."

"You were the only choice since I don't have sisters. You're one of our best friends. Besides, you did help me pick out the ring months ago. When she finds that out she might have something to say about it." He warned.

"I still can't believe we left her working at your bakery on July Fourth and just went to pick out a ring for her. If she finds that out, she might have something to say to YOU!" Abby chuckled.

"Maybe we just keep that to ourselves?" Fitz offered.

"A wise choice." Abby said smiling. "Her parents can't wait for her to call them about it."

"I can't believe you told them that we picked out a ring for their daughter that night she was sick."

"They wanted to know everything about you. I just helped them to see what your intentions were. You're welcome by the way. At least you know that they can keep a secret."

"I had taken care of that." Fitz glanced at his watch. It had now been twenty minutes. "Shit. I gotta go wake up sleeping beauty. Text me if you need anything. Liv won't know because I changed your name in my phone to John. If she happens to see me getting a text I'll tell her it's one of my vendors."

"That's creative. I'll be in touch."

Fitz opened the door and went into the house, taking big strides towards their bedroom. He hoped she was still in bed so his creative mind could do something about it. He stopped at the door and thought maybe it was time to bring his consequences back. He put his hand on the doorknob, praying she hadn't gotten up yet, and turned it.

She wasn't in bed. Well damn.

He went to the bathroom door and peeked in. Olivia was standing in front of the mirror putting on make-up. He leaned against the door frame and watched her. He was going to propose to this beautiful woman today. She was going to say yes and they would get married soon. It made the mundane act of watching her get ready for the day a little more exciting. Sometime in the not so distant future, he would be watching his wife get ready in the bathroom. He grinned at the thought.

"What's got you so happy this morning, Mr. Grant?" Olivia said disturbing him.

"I'm just thinking of all the money we'll save when I eventually convince you that you don't need make-up." Wow. That was good. Not even a lie either. He went to where she was and stood behind her, looking at them in the mirror. "You are beautiful without it, you know."

"My father said the same thing to me when I was fourteen." She said, as she flicked her wrist to apply her mascara. "You're both very sweet."

Fitz dipped his head into her neck and gently bit down on the skin there. "Can we not talk about your dad right now?" Olivia giggled and Fitz slapped her ass. "Come on. We need to get going."

"What is your hurry this morning?" She asked.

"I thought I'd take you to breakfast. But if you want to take your time primping then by all means go ahead. I'll just go eat a bag of popcorn. I'm sure that will keep me full until we get home and you cook dinner."

The mascara was forgotten. "I'm not cooking dinner. It's your turn to cook tonight."

"Nice try, but no it isn't. I made meatloaf last night. It's your turn."

Olivia thought back to the previous night. Dammit he was right. "Fine! But we're having salad."

"I'm a man not a rabbit. I need man food!"

She rolled her eyes at him. "Can I buy you dinner?"

He crossed his arms defiantly. He knew they would probably not be eating dinner tonight until much later. If at all. But she didn't know that. "We'll see."

"Let's go. You're cranky when you're hungry." They left the house, got in the car, and drove away.

After having pancakes, bacon, and a pot of coffee, they left the restaurant in search of the promised shoes. Olivia looked through three stores before she found the ones she told Fitz had 'called to her'. He wondered why they hadn't called earlier and saved them some time, but paid for them silently, delighted to see her so happy.

"Where do we have to go?" She asked while holding his hand in the car.

"Well, we have to go by the sprinkle king's place so I can get a few much needed supplies for the bakery. I've got another couple of field trips this week and I need to be ready. My regular vendor ran out of what I needed, and he's been blowing up my phone the last few days in an attempt to kiss my ass over it. He knows I'm about to change vendors for good."

"Wow. Bakery stress is so much more than I imagined." She giggled.

"Smartass. I need to get my parent's an anniversary present, pick up my dry cleaning, grab a few groceries for the house..."

"Wait. What?" She interrupted.

"What?"

"How do you always have stuff to pick up from the dry cleaners when you basically live in jeans and bakery shirts?" She asked.

"I still haven't gotten my stuff from the trip to Chicago." He admitted.

"Fitz! That was a while back! They may have sold it by now."

"You watch too much television. That's a myth the dry cleaning people started to get you to pick your stuff up faster."

"Really? Because it happened to me."

"No way."

She laughed at him. "Yes way."

"Well, if it's gone we'll just buy more. It's not the end of the world. Oh! I need to get a little something for Megan and Elizabeth too. I can't wait to see them at Thanksgiving."

"They are definitely coming?" Olivia asked. She was excited to see the girls too! Maybe they could spend the night again?

"Yea. Thad and Robin said they will be here next Monday. The girls are out of school that week and that gives us almost a full week with the four of them."

"I'd like for the girls to come stay with us one night while they are here. If that's ok with you?"

"I was going to ask what you thought of the idea later in the week. Of course it's ok with me. Unless the three of you are going to gang up on me again? Or be mean to me?"

"That's a given, babe. You are outnumbered as the only guy."

"So using your own logic, if we have mostly boy babies, us men can gang up on you?"

"That's not exactly..."

"That is exactly what you're saying. Grant men have strong male bearing genes. Good luck with that logic when there's a house full of guys. Don't worry, I'll remind you of this conversation." He grinned at her and squeezed her hand lightly.

She pulled it away from him and muttered something about how stupid that was. Fitz roared with laughter.

They went into a couple of stores and found all the gifts they needed for the people on their list. Fitz drove them to the sprinkle king's place and introduced him to Olivia. The two of them hit it off immediately and he gave her a tour of his establishment. Fitz picked up a few unneeded items and sent Abby a text letting her know what their ETA would be. The redhead let him know that everything was ready.

The sprinkle king brought Olivia back to where Fitz stood, in front of the register. He told Fitz, "That visit was too quick. I need more time with the lovely Olivia. We barely scratched the surface of all the things I wanted to show her."

Fitz put his arm around Olivia's waist and pointed his finger at the man. "Go find your own lovely woman. This one is all mine."

Olivia chuckled at them and said, "It was very nice to meet you. I'll be back. With or without him."

The sprinkle king laughed heartily at her sass. "I like her. You'd better marry her before someone beats you to it."

"Who? Her?" Fitz asked looking at Olivia. "She's a fun girl, but I'm just hanging out with her until Mrs. Right comes along." Olivia thumped him on the arm. "Good to see you again. Thanks for the personal touch." He added blandly as the other man laughed.

Once they were settled in the car Fitz drove them to the dry cleaners. They walked inside hand in hand chatting away. There were only two other people in line, so Olivia and Fitz each got a ticket and waited their turn.

When Fitz looked questioningly at Olivia and the ticket she had in her hand, she said "What? I have stuff that needs to be picked up too."

A few minutes later, Teresa came out from the back in a rush. She looked at the four customers and said, "Fitz, would you please do me a huge favor? I need someone to cover the counter for a few minutes. My husband just burned his arm and I need to go check on him."

Fitz dropped Olivia's hand and went to the woman. "Do you need me to call 911? How bad is it? Does he need to go to the hospital?"

"Oh no no no. It's not serious, but there's no one here to take over so I can go take care of him. Do you mind?" She asked wringing her hands.

"No. Of course not. Go. I'll be fine." He said, ushering her back to her husband. Fitz looked at the other two people in line. "Uhhh, Mary. If you'll bring me your ticket I'll go collect your stuff."

The woman walked up to the counter, carrying a wiggly toddler. "How's it going, Fitz?"

He smiled back at her. "Really good. How have you been?"

"Been great. How are things at the bakery? Is it keepin ya busy? I need to stop by some time. I keep meaning to, but you know how it is with a little one?"

"Is this big guy, Joseph?

"Yup. Hard to believe he'll be two next month."

"Wow! He was just born the other day it seems!" Fitz waved to him but the little boy was preoccupied with something on the counter and then wiggled around in her arms. "Everything at the bakery is great. It's field trip season, so the kids keep me and my staff on our toes. You should come by for coffee and a doughnut sometime. It's been a while." Mary handed him her ticket and he said, 'I'll be right back."

A few minutes later, Fitz appeared behind the counter with a few plastic covered things. He looked at the white slip attached to them and said, "That'll be eight bucks." The woman handed him a ten and Fitz gave her a panicked look. "I don't have any idea how to operate the register. Do you have eight dollars?"

Mary tried glancing in her wallet but her son was making it difficult with his constant movement. He slid down her body and moved his little legs towards the door. Olivia stepped in his path to prevent him from going any further and he reached his little chubby arms up toward her.

Olivia looked from the boy to his mother, unsure of what to say. Finally, she blurted out, "Is it ok if I hold him? I'm not a baby snatcher and I really don't mind."

Mary seemed grateful for the help and said, "Sure. He never goes to strangers. He must like you."

Olivia scooped him up and he looked at her with wide eyes. "Hiya, cutie pie. Where ya goin?" The boy babbled something unintelligible while gently touching her earrings and Olivia replied, "That's where I was going too!"

Fitz watched with a huge grin on his face and then turned back to Mary. "Uhhhhh all I have is a ten and a five."

"That's ok. Just give me the five and I'll give Teresa the other three dollars when she comes out." He offered.

"Are you sure? You don't have to do that."

"Yea. It's no problem." The woman gave him the smaller bill and Fitz handed her the clothing.

"Thanks, Fitz. I'll come by the bakery one day this week and pay you back."

"Don't worry about it," he said.

Mary held onto the hanger while stuffing her wallet back into her purse. When she got to Olivia and her son, Olivia offered to carry him out to the car. "It's ok. His dad is just around the corner buying I-C-E C-R-E-A-M. She thanked Olivia for the help and Joseph was ready to go back to his mother's arms.

Fitz looked at Olivia and said, "I'm sorry about the delay, babe. I'm sure it will just be a few more minutes and Teresa will be back."

She happily winked at him.

Fitz smiled at the older gentleman standing in front of the counter. "Will?"

"Fitzgerald! How are you? How are your parents?" The man asked.

"They are doing really well. Thank you for asking. How about you? You been ok?"

"I've been great. My granddaughter is in town this weekend. We are going to go to the movies this afternoon." He explained.

"Oh yea? What are you going to see?" Fitz asked.

The man shrugged his shoulders. "To tell you the truth, I have no idea. She told me a week ago what she wanted to see and I just bought the tickets. Spending time with her is all I care about. It's hard when she lives so far away."

"I'm sure that's really rough. If you have your ticket I'll go in the back and get what's yours?"

"Yea yea. Here it is," the man grinned handing it over. "Take your time." Will turned around and met Olivia's eyes. "Hello," he said to her. "How are you today?"

She smiled at him and said, "Hi. I'm good, thanks. I apologize for eavesdropping, but it sounds like you have a big day today? I hope you enjoy yourself?"

The older man's eyes twinkled. "It's a good day for big things to happen. Do you have anything planned today?"

Olivia was charmed by this man. He was what most people conjure up in their minds when the word grandfather is mentioned. A genuinely sweet older man who takes the time to talk to strangers and listen to them. "Nothing as fun as the movies. Just running errands. Your typical Saturday afternoon stuff."

"Things can change just like that," he snapped his fingers. "You gotta be ready when they do."

"That is very true." She saw Fitz returning from the back and said, "I hope you enjoy your movie."

"Enjoy your afternoon as well." He replied. The older man paid for his things and left.

Olivia stepped closer to the counter, closing the distance between her and Fitz. "Well, that was fun. Did you see Teresa back there? I hope her husband is alright?"

"I didn't. But I'm sure it's just a perk of the job."

"Yea. So." She said expectantly.

"So what?" He said, leaning on the counter.

"Are you gonna get my dry cleaning? I've heard really good things about this place, but the service is kinda slow today." She said sarcastically.

"Do you have your ticket?" He asked playfully.

She grinned and passed it to him, never breaking eye contact.

Fitz made no attempt to get her stuff from the back room. "You know this place brings back a good memory for me."

"Me too." She put her elbows on the counter and rested her chin in her hands. "That was a really good day. Of course there were a lot more people in here that day than there are right now."

Fitz looked around the empty room. He picked up her left hand and started rubbing slow soft circles on it, feeling the butterflies moving at warp speed in his stomach. This was the moment he had been waiting for all day long. Hell, his whole life. He wasn't nervous. He was excited. He looked down on the counter, seeing the two red tickets the patrons had left behind. He flipped them over, as Olivia watched what he was doing.

He watched as her face scrunched up in confusion and she leaned a little closer to see what the little tickets said. "These tickets don't have numbers on them." She picked up the one that said 'WILL' on it and inspected it closer. "How did they get the customer's names on them? That's kind of cool." She put it down and picked up the other ticket and said, "They didn't spell Mary's name right though."

Fitz took the ticket out of her hand and set it back down on the counter. The space between WILL and MARRY was intentional. Fitz picked up Olivia's ticket. He took a deep breath and swallowed hard "With WILL and MARY gone, that just leaves YOU..." He set her ticket down between the other two. Then he put his ticket on the end. "And ME."

Olivia looked down, still confused about what he was saying. She read the four tickets together. And then again. Her head immediately snapped up meet his gaze. Her eyes were open wide and her mouth was open, forming a little o. She stared into his eyes, waiting for a smirk or something to tell her he was joking. She got none of that.

He came around the counter, still holding her hand, and said, "I thought the day that I met you here was the best day of my entire life. But I was wrong..."

Olivia's breath whooshed out of her.

"Every day that I spent with you after that day just got better and better. I've lived a lot of years without you, but the last several months have been happier, more fun, and full of more love than I ever could have imagined. I love you and I desperately want to make you my wife." He got down on one knee in front of her. "Will you marry me, Olivia?"

He pulled a ring out of his pocket and held it up for her to see. He waited for the one word from her that would allow him to slip it onto her finger, making him the happiest man on earth.

Olivia looked at him. And then the ring. And back to him. This was really happening. Fitz was proposing to her at the same place where they met. And he looked so hopeful and handsome and...ready. She realized that this man was going to become her husband. He was going to take care of her just like he had been doing since they met. And that he would love her more than himself. Of all the women in the world, Fitz chose her. When she really thought about it and let that sink in, it was amazing.

She knew she would do the same for him. She would put him above herself. She would take care of him. She would love this man with her entire being until her last breath. There was no one else she could picture herself with. He was her everything and she couldn't wait to spend the rest of her life with him. She grinned at him and excitedly said, "Yes."

Teresa and her husband clapped happily nearby. There had been no emergency. It was all part of the master plan Fitz had arranged, with Abby's help ahead of time to get him behind the counter.

He pulled Olivia to him, wrapped his arms around her tiny waist, and happily kissed her. Everything he ever wanted in life was in his arms and he couldn't keep the smile off of his face. She said yes. The ring! Fitz laughed as he pulled back from her and joyously slid the silver ring with the huge rock onto her finger. When she gasped at it, he knew she was pleased with it. He kissed the ring as it sparkled on her tiny finger.

"Where's the box?" She asked out of nowhere.

"What?" He asked giddily.

"The box. The one the ring came in? Where is it? Little girls always dream about keeping the box their engagement ring came in. If you don't have it, that's ok." She said inspecting the ring lovingly.

"Please log this away, Miss Pope, as a reminder of how well I know you!" He said grinning. Olivia had no idea what he was talking about. "And I really like that I won't have to call you Miss Pope for much longer." He put his lips on hers, lingering until his smile broke the kiss.

Fitz turned around and said thank you to the owners and waved goodbye. He led Olivia outside and opened her door and closed it once she was in her seat. He walked around the front of the car and saw her staring at her ring. It made him smile even bigger.

He drove them home and he inserted the key and stepped back. "Follow the path to find what you're looking for."

Olivia looked at him with confusion. "Are we in OZ right now? What the hell are you talking about, babe?"

"Open the door and follow directions please." He said impatiently.

Olivia opened the door and stepped inside. There were rose petals on the floor. It was a little trail that led down the hall. She looked at him, wondering how they had gotten there when he had been with her all day. "How did you...?"

"The trail, Miss Pope. Go and see where it leads please."

Eventually she looked away from his handsome face and back to the scattered flower petals. She followed where they led her, down the hall and into their office. She reached in to turn on the light and Fitz heard her gasp. He knew her so well. And it felt really good to know someone like that. To anticipate what they want and to be able to give it to them. He smiled to himself in the kitchen and waited for her. Giving her space to deal with what she found.

Olivia saw the petals ended at Fitz's desk. Looking on top of it, she saw a small silver key. It was the same key he had used to open the locked drawer the other night. She covered her mouth with her hand and looked at it. She wondered if Fitz thought she still didn't trust him? She looked to the doorway but he wasn't there. Deciding that he left it there for her, she put the little key into the lock. Nothing happened. And then she remembered that Fitz had told her that it needed to be jiggled. She tried that until she heard a click. The lock turned.

She slid the key out and looked at the doorway once again. Still no Fitz. She pulled the drawer open and saw the papers he had haphazardly thrown in there the night they had argued. She hesitated for a moment and eventually reached her hand inside and pulled the wooden piece up and out of the drawer. She saw opened envelopes that looked like the mail he had in the freezer at his house. That was weird. But then she noticed that they were stamped with a jewelry company on them. They must be the receipts of the payments he had been making on her ring.

She felt like a fool. The words she screamed at him came rushing back into her mind. No wonder he didn't tell her what was in the bottom of the drawer. He couldn't. She lifted the envelopes out and sitting on the very bottom of the drawer was something that took her breath away.

Tears stung her eyes as she stared at what she saw. A small square black velvet box. Her engagement ring box. He had kept her ring in there the entire time. He hadn't lied. He hadn't done anything to hurt her. But she had hurt him with her words. With her actions. With making him feel like she couldn't trust him.

She gently grasped the box and held it in the palm of her hand and stared at it. Fitz had had a plan the entire time. He was absolutely right. He couldn't have told her what was in that drawer that night, without ruining his perfect plan. Olivia opened the box with the thumb of her right hand. There was a piece of paper folded up inside. She looked at it for a moment, pulled it out, unfolded it, and read it.

 _Olivia~_

 _Please don't think about that night ever again. We were both wrong. But it doesn't matter anymore. You are going to be my wife and that was worth waiting my whole life for. I knew you'd want the box. I love you endlessly._

 _Fitz_

Tears were falling down her cheeks as she folded the paper back the way she found it and put it back inside the ring box like the precious treasure that it is. She stood up and went into the kitchen finding Fitz leaning up against the counter. He smiled at her and she jumped into his arms.

"I love you," he said.

"I love you more," she blubbered.

"It's not possible." Fitz said holding onto her tightly.


	48. Saucy Moments

_Thank you for all of your amazing supportive reviews of the proposal chapter. I worried about that chapter the most and almost deleted the entire thing, more than once. I wanted it to be perfect for the readers, and because Fitz & Olivia deserve it. Thank you to the one who gave me the confidence to post it as is. My plan is to finish this story with the wedding and then start a new story, a sequel, about their married life, and as parents._

Saucy Moments

"You're gonna marry me!" Fitz said giddily.

Olivia sighed loudly and cut her eyes at her new fiancé. "You have said that to me at least twenty times today."

"Well, I'm excited. And the fact is that you are gonna marry me." He said smugly.

"Yea. Well. I gotta marry somebody. It might as well be you." She shrugged.

"Really?" He asked cocking his head to the side and smirking at her. Fitz grabbed Olivia and threw her over his shoulder and made a beeline for their bedroom. He threw her down on the center of the big bed, pounced on top of her, and proceeded to tickle her. The more she shrieked the more he continued lightly digging his fingers into her ribs. "Say it."

Olivia was laughing hysterically. "Fine! I can't wait to marry you."

Fitz stopped immediately. "Bet your ass you can't. I told you from the beginning. I'm a damn catch."

Olivia rolled her eyes at him. "And the most humble person I know too."

"Aww thanks, babe. That's really sweet of you to say."

She shot him a bland look and shoved at his broad chest. "Get off me."

He grinned down at her and kissed her nose. "Did you say get off me? Or get me off? Cause I can do either one." He dipped his head into her neck and sucked on the smooth skin there as his left hand snaked up under her shirt. Olivia arched her back into his touch. She was putty in his hands.

"We might have a few minutes," she breathed out, her mind going hazy as Fitz picked up his head to kiss her when Olivia suddenly bolted upright and exclaimed, "Wait!" Her forehead smashed into his.

He immediately stopped what he was doing, rolled off of her, and groaned loudly, clutching his head. "OW! What the hell, Liv?"

She too, had a hand pressed to her forehead. "I'm so sorry, babe. Damn that hurts! Are you ok?"

"Not really. Why did you do that?" He whined.

Olivia rubbed her forehead and got up off the bed before Fitz got ideas to resume what he had started. They would both need some Tylenol anyways. "Because we are having both sets of parents over here in a few hours for dinner. And to announce that we are engaged. There really isn't time to be fooling around."

"That's in a few hours. There's plenty of time for fooling around. We'll make time." He reached out a hand to her with a pitiful face. "Besides, you hurt me. Come here and kiss it to make it feel better. Please?"

"No way! I know that face and that whiney voice, Grant. You're just trying to get me back into bed. Get your ass up and let's make dinner. We have to cook first and then get ready for company. Everything has to be perfect."

"Everything has to be perfect," he mimicked. "My middle name is perfection. I got this, woman. Now come here and kiss the gash you gave me."

She pressed her lips together to avoid laughing at him. "A gash? Really? There's no blood. The skin isn't even broken. It's a boo boo at best. You are such a baby." He lunged for her but she evaded his arm and ran out giggling into the kitchen.

A little while later, the kitchen was filled with the aroma of freshly baked bread and homemade lasagna. Olivia had set the table and came back to the sink where Fitz was stacking his dirty dishes up from making the meal after sliding the casserole dish into the oven. She caught sight of his face in her peripheral vision and noticed he had something on his chin. Something red. "Babe, come here." Fitz stood in front of her waiting for her to say something. Instead she just grinned at him. "You have something on your chin."

He chuckled at her. "It's probably lasagna sauce." He brought his hand up to wipe it away, but Olivia was anticipating that and knocked it away. She took a step closer to him and stuck her tongue out, grazing it across his lightly stubbled face. Fitz closed his eyes and let out a "mmmmm" sound. "Don't start something you don't have the time to finish, future wife."

She looked up to his closed eyes and said, "We have a little time. Besides, we have to take showers. We're both already so dirty."

That was all the encouragement Fitz needed. His eyes popped open quickly, he grabbed her by the waist, and set her on a small clean portion of the counter, and said, "Dirty is my middle name." He crashed his lips to hers in a lust filled kiss and his tongue slid into her mouth. His hands searched greedily for unexposed flesh to touch as he lifted her shirt up over her head.

When their lips broke she sarcastically said, "I thought your middle name was perfection?"

He grinned at her evilly and said, "Tell me you don't feel perfectly dirty right now?" When she couldn't argue with that logic he took that as a green light and pulled her into his arms, sinking to the floor, and fusing his mouth to hers once again. He held her in his arms as she straddled his lap, their mouths still attached. Fitz brought his hands up and placed his palms on each of her cheeks as he pulled his mouth away from hers.

Olivia's eyes were barely open and her lips were swollen. She had that sexy give-me-more look on her face and he intended to do just that. "God, you're so beautiful." He glanced up at the clock and added, "We have an hour before they get here. How do you feel about a quickie in the kitchen and then a super-fast shower?"

She glanced up to the counter and saw the small bowl of sauce Fitz had yet to take to the sink. A perfectly dirty thought came into her mind and she reached up and pulled it down to where she sat in his lap on the floor. Fitz looked at the small metal bowl with confusion as Olivia put her hand on his chest and gently pushed him to laying down on the floor. Once he was flat on his back she seductively said, "I thought todays service would be sauce ala dick. You are agreeable, yes?"

The only thought running through Fitz's mind at that moment was that this sexy little temptress was going to be his wife and would be coming up with all kinds of crazy things to do to his body. Hell yes he was agreeable! She could do anything she wanted to him and he was guaranteed to love it. He couldn't speak words though. The thought of her covering him with sauce and sucking it off had turned his brain to mush. He simply nodded his head vigorously.

Olivia smirked at him, feeling victorious and powerful for reducing him mute. She hooked her thumbs on the inside of the elastic band of his jogging pants and boxer briefs and slid them down his legs. His excited erection sprang free and stood at attention. As she pulled his clothing over his feet, she looked at it and licked her lips. When it twitched at her, she grinned and crawled up Fitz's body. She stopped at his long rigid member and whispered "hi big fella" and planted a kiss on the tip of him, causing Fitz to groan.

"Babe, don't do tha..." He groaned.

"Quiet." She said.

Damn. That was hot, Fitz thought to himself. He pondered talking some more just to hear her say it again. The possibility that she would change her mind about sauce ala dick kept him quiet.

She picked up the small bowl and dipped her finger into the sauce and proceeded to finger paint his warm hard length until it was completely covered with it. Fitz picked up his head and watched her open her mouth and take him into it inch by inch. The sauce slid down his smooth skin pooling at the base of his erection. It was the most erotic thing he had ever seen. When she got to the base of him, Olivia pulled her head back, letting her teeth drag along the sides of him.

Fitz was moaning loudly at her skilled mouth and the feelings it was bringing out of him. His hips moved with her mouth and before long his left hand found its way into her hair where he gripped it tightly and guided her in a steady pace. "Awwww" "Yesssss" and "Just like that" were some of the phrases that he groaned out as he watched her work him toward the edge.

He was audibly encouraging her to finish him off when someone knocked on the front door. They both froze. Olivia picked up her head and gave him a deer in headlights look. But Fitz burst out laughing at the sight before him. Olivia had red sauce around her mouth and some was dripping down the corner of her chin. In a panic she whispered, "FITZ! Is that our parents?"

He was so charmed with her exasperated worry, that Fitz smiled at her and whispered back, "Probably."

"OHMYGOD! No no no no! Clean this up!" She hissed.

More knocking on the door followed by, "Hello? Fitz? Are you alright dear? You sound like you're hurt?"

Olivia pointed her finger at him and said, "Your mother is at our door. She cannot know that I was just...doing what I was doing! Put your clothes back on for god's sake! I'm going to go get dressed. When I come out you can go jump in the shower." She got up off the floor, picked up her shirt, and started quietly stalking away. She turned around and added, "And I hate you, future husband." Fitz roared with laughter at her and pulled his pants back on.

He opened the door and hugged his mother. "What took you so long to open the door, dear? I thought that you had fallen and hurt yourself."

"As you can see, I'm fine mom." Fitz grinned at her.

"Don't you sass me, Fitzgerald."

"I wouldn't dream of it." He chuckled. Fitz reached over and shook his dad's hand and got that knowing grin from him.

"Where's Olivia?" Emma asked.

"She's getting dressed. We got distracted and lost track of time. Fitz watched his father chuckle and cover it with a cough into his hand.

"You've got a mess on the floor, dear. What happened?"

Mom always asking a hundred questions at the most inopportune times. "Uhhh, I dropped the bowl of sauce carrying it to the sink. I was cleaning it up when you knocked on the door."

"Oh. Well, let me help you, dear." She offered.

"No ma'am. I've got this. You go sit down. Olivia's parents should be here shortly." He suggested. He didn't want his mother anywhere near that sexy sauce.

Fitz watched his mother set her purse down and walk into the living room. Thomas grinned at his son and whispered, "You've got sauce on your waistband, son." He slapped him on the back and walked to where his wife was. Fitz grinned at his father's back. He glanced down and pulled his t-shirt over his waistband to cover the evidence until he could jump in the shower.

Olivia walked out from their bedroom a short while later, all smiles. "Emma! Thomas! So good to see the both of you." She hugged them both close as Fitz watched on. If she knew that his father was aware of what they had been up to, she would be mortified. He'd tell her later and enjoy her reaction, he decided.

"I'm going to jump in the shower real quick." He kissed her cheek and lifted two fingers and dragged them down a strand of her hair. "Somehow you got sauce in your hair, babe." He watched her eyes grow to the size of saucers and smirked at her. "Be right back, beautiful."

Ten minutes later, Olivia's parents showed up. As she walked to the door, she was thankful that her future husband had cleaned up the mess on the floor from their earlier escapades. She hugged her parents and ushered them into the living room where Fitz and his parents were chatting. The two older women gravitated towards each other like magnets and chirped away like magpies. The two older men acted like they hadn't seen each other earlier that same week and made small talk with each other until the eventually picked up on the conversation they had started at breakfast Tuesday morning.

The parents didn't notice that Fitz and Olivia had excused themselves and went into the kitchen to check on the food. Fitz cracked open the oven and saw that the top of the lasagna was almost a golden brown. He turned off the oven and shut the door. Olivia took the salad she had made as well as the dressings out of the refrigerator and set them on the table. She filled wine glasses for everyone as Fitz sliced the bread he had made. They bumped hips together and shared a sly smile as they worked side by side.

Unbeknownst to Fitz and Olivia, the other four adults were watching them from the living room with smiles as their chatter grew quiet. Each of them were thinking the same thoughts but kept them to their selves. All four of them wanted to see these two happy people get married and give them beautiful grandchildren soon. They were already plotting how to get the kids away from the other grandparents.

Everything was on the table and the happy couple turned to call their parents to dinner. They were met with four sappy smiles and they looked at each other silently asking the other who did you tell? Fitz shrugged at Olivia and reached out to take her hand. The one with the sparkly bling on it that no one had seen or mentioned. One of his fingers rubbed over the ring absentmindedly as the four adults made their way to the table.

The two mothers sat on one side of the table while the fathers happily sat beside each other and across from their wives. Fitz and Olivia sat at the ends of the table. Once everyone was seated Fitz stood up and said, "I have an announcement to make."

"Here we go again," Thomas sighed. "What is it this time, Sonny?"

"Hush up, Thomas and let the boy speak." Emma chided.

"Thank you mom." He winked at her. "We invited you all over for dinner tonight because we are celebrating." He gave a dramatic pause and finished. "I asked Olivia to marry me and she said yes!"

Both sets of parents cheered loudly, stood up from their seats, and rushed to hug them both. The women started crying together, happy tears, while the three men held them close. Olivia looked at her father and said, "You're not mad?"

"Mad? Why would I be mad? We just want you to be happy above all else. If Fitz is the one for you then we are thrilled!"

"But you've always said that whoever marries me has to talk to you first?" She questioned.

Nathaniel looked at his future son in law and grinned at him. He glanced back at Olivia and simply said, "Fitz did talk to me, Munchkin."

"He just proposed to me yesterday, Dad. And I was with him all day." Olivia had a look of confusion on her face.

Nathaniel let go of his wife, went to his daughter, and wrapped his arms around her tightly. He knew this day would come eventually. And while he hated the thought of letting her go and releasing her to someone else, he also knew his baby girl was big enough to choose her own path in life. And Fitz was a good man. He loved her and took care of her and put her first. That was what mattered most to a father when it came to his daughter.

He released his hold on her and explained, "Do you remember the night you were sick with a high fever and your momma and I came over to help take care of you?"

Olivia nodded, but was still confused.

"Well, when your momma and Abby took charge, Fitz and I escaped out here and had a chat. We talked about all sorts of things to pass the time and keep our minds occupied from worrying about you. He told me that he intended to marry you one day. It wasn't the kind of conversation that I expected to have having just met the man. But he explained to me how he felt about you. He said he wasn't looking for an answer or a blessing from me that night. But that he wanted me to keep an eye on him and see if I thought he was a man worthy of you."

Olivia's head snapped over to where Fitz was standing. He gave her a small smile but said nothing. Tears started running down her face. She was amazed at the lengths this perfect man had gone to in order to prove his love for her to her father. As well as telling him that long ago that he wanted to marry her. "Did you really do that?" She whispered.

"Of course I did." He replied. "I knew you were my girl the moment we met. I also knew that your dad is the most important man in your life. Getting his blessing was important to me."

"But when did you tell Fitz he could marry me?" Olivia asked looked back at her father.

"You never miss anything do you, Munchkin?" He chuckled. "That same night, once your fever finally broke you asked for Fitz and he went into your room. And that's when Abby told me that Fitz had already picked out a ring."

"What?!" She exclaimed looking back at her fiancé. "You picked out my ring that long ago?"

"After your father finishes his story, I'll tell you one of my own." He said smiling at her.

"Should I have kept that to myself?" Nathaniel asked Fitz.

"No, Sir. I planned on telling her tonight anyways. Abby has a share in some of the secret keeping too. It'll be easier to throw her under the bus when I explain the whole story to Liv."

"Ahhh yes. Abby." Her father said smiling.

"What about Abby?" Olivia asked.

"The day Fitz moved in here with you, when the four of us brought lunch, Fitz and I had another talk. He asked me what I thought about him. About the two of you. And if I had come to a conclusion about whether or not to give my blessing to his previously asked question of marrying you."

"What did you say? And how much did you cry?" She chuckled while holding onto him.

"I did not cry." Lila cleared her throat loudly and he avoided eye contact with her. "I told him that I had indeed been watching him, watching both of you. That I thought he was a good man who loved you with his whole heart. And that it was obvious that you loved him just as much. And then I told him we would be honored to have him as our son in law. That he had better take care of you or I would personally kick his ass."

Emma chuckled and held onto her husband while everyone listened to the sweet father and daughter conversation.

"Ohmygod, Dad!" Olivia chuckled. "You didn't!"

"Oh but he did," Fitz shared.

"I love you, Munchkin. I'm truly glad that you are happy and grateful that you have found someone who loves you the way you deserve to be loved."

Olivia held on to her father tightly as more tears fell down her cheeks. "I love you too, Dad." She wiped her eyes, let go of her dad, and walked into Fitz's waiting arms. "I'm learning all sorts of interesting things about you tonight, Mister. Let's hear your story."

"Ok, but don't be mad."

"That's a promising start," she said blandly while everyone laughed and listened.

"Remember the cupcake decorating we had at the bakery on the Fourth?"

"Of course. The girls and I showed up to help out. What about it?"

"Remember when Abby and I ran an errand and we left you with Charlotte to run the front end?" His smile was getting bigger as he spoke.

"Yea. You said you had to go buy sprinkles from the lovely sprinkle king."

"I'm never taking you to his place again. Anyways, that was the day that I picked out your ring. I had no idea what you'd like so I asked Abby to help me." Fitz enjoyed watching her face transform from a smile to shock.

"But you hadn't known me for very long at that point." She said in complete surprise.

"I knew that I wanted to marry you from the day we met."

"Wait a minute! Abby has known about this since July?"

"There's my girl! Yes she has! She is who you need to have a long talk with at work tomorrow. I'm the fiancé. I'm supposed to keep the ring a secret. She's your best friend, and while I'm thankful she didn't tell you, she is the one you have known longer and needs to be dealt with." He felt no guilt passing the buck onto Abby.

"I have one question for you." She said.

"Just one?" He chuckled. "Shoot."

"You were with me all day yesterday, right?"

"You know that I was."

"So how did you get those special tickets into the machine at the dry cleaners? And how did you get the rose petals here before we got home?"

"That's more than one question, babe." He joked. "Abby helped me. She went to the dry cleaners before we got there and changed out the tickets. And she's the one who sprinkled the rose petals down the hall for you to follow. I borrowed her to help me make the whole thing special for you, because she knows you more than anyone else. Present company excluded. She was a rock star with the whole thing."

"It was absolutely perfect." She sighed laying her head on his shoulder.

"Perfection is what you deserve." Fitz said holding her close. At the sound of someone clearing their throat, Olivia picked up her head and smiled at the parents who were silently watching them. "Now that the food is cold, maybe we should eat?"

Everyone went back to their seats as Fitz dished out the warm lasagna and Olivia "It looks delicious. Did you make this, Fitzgerald?" Lila asked.

"Yes, ma'am I did. As well as the homemade bread. And your daughter didn't help me at all."

"I made the salad, thank you very much." Olivia supplied, sticking her tongue out at Fitz.

"That's an improvement." Nathaniel joked. "You need to give her some cooking lessons, Fitz. She should be able to make dinner all by herself before long."

"We have had a few actually. But we haven't really taken the time to have any cooking lessons lately. We'll definitely have to get back on that. It was fun for both of us and we learned a lot from our time in the kitchen together. She's a fast learner. And she taught me some new things as well. Didn't you, babe?" Fitz winked at her from the opposite end of the table.

Olivia smiled at him and stuck a forkful of lasagna into her mouth hoping that her face wasn't as red as the sauce she was eating.

"Have the two of you set a date yet? Or is it too early?" Thomas asked.

Olivia gave him a genuine smile. At least one of the Grant men had some decency. She looked at Fitz and he smiled at her and nodded his head. She looked at each of the parents and said, "We've decided to get married on New Year's Eve."

"How romantic," Lila said wistfully.

"That's just around the corner." Nathaniel said with a hint of concern.

"We've got a lot of planning to do." Emma said excitedly.

"It'll be beautiful." Thomas said. "Why that date though?"

"We want to start the new year married." Fitz simply said.

"Neither one of us wants a long engagement. And Thad and his family will already be here for the holidays, so he and Robin won't have to try to get time off work for the wedding." Olivia glanced at Fitz and felt no sense of rush or worry. Just anticipation.


	49. Lots To Do

Lots To Do

 _Meet me in my office as soon as you get there_

Feeling satisfied that she had hopefully struck some small measure of fear into the heart of her best friend, Olivia sent the text, put her phone away, and pulled out of her driveway to head to the office. It was a chilly November day and the wind was blowing harshly, kicking up colored leaves in the street as she drove. Winter was tolerable at best but summer would always be her favorite season because it was then that she had met Fitz. Everything came back to him in her mind. She smiled as she thought of him now and the interesting way he woke her up this morning.

They had been blissfully asleep in their bed when the damned alarm went off, pulling them from their dreams and cozy warmth. When the dreaded sound went off, Olivia had been laying across his chest as she was prone to do at night. She had made a whiney noise and Fitz reached over and turned the racket off before wrapping his arms around her little body and pulling the blanket up further.

Fitz had kissed the top of her head while she tried to catch a little more sleep. She was so much fun to watch in the morning. So quiet and peaceful. Not a care in the world. He enjoyed this side of her before the chaos of the day began. He dragged a finger across her cheek, pulling a few stray strands of hair, and tucked them behind her ear. She didn't move.

This beautiful little creature was going to be his wife by the end of the year. He made a mental note to have a discussion with her about what needed to be done for their big day. Theirs had to be one of the shortest engagements in history. He was glad that she had agreed to get married next month. He didn't want to wait much longer to become her husband anyway. He peered down at her face and smiled. Her left cheek was up against his bare chest as she breathed deeply. God he loved her and couldn't wait to put that band on her finger so her engagement ring wouldn't be so lonely.

"Babe?" He whispered.

No movement from Olivia.

"Hey, sleepyhead. We've got to get up." He gently coaxed.

"Dontwanna" she mumbled.

He grinned at her and moved his hands down to the back of her thighs and began rubbing. "You have to get up. Who is going to keep us in the lap of luxury?"

"What does it look like outside?" She asked with her eyes still closed.

Fitz looked out the window from where he was laying and decided she wouldn't like it. "The sun is out and the birds are chirping. It's gorgeous out there."

Olivia picked up her head and turned it toward the window. Her sleepy eyes tried to focus on what she saw. "You're such a liar. I'm not going in today."

"Well, if you're not going in then neither am I. We can take a sick day together." He continued rubbing her thighs in a circular motion, moving his hands up to her bare ass.

"That sounds perfect. Sick day." She laid her head back on his chest and closed her eyes again.

"Mmmmm. Since you're taking a sick day, maybe I should take care of you?" He put his hands around her waist and rolled them so he was on top of her.

"Babe! I was in my happy place." She whined.

"You've been in your happy place all night. It's my turn to be in my happy place." He pecked her lips and disappeared under the blanket. She was warm from being sandwiched between his skin and the blanket. He pulled up the edge of her shirt exposing her breasts and flung the blankets off them both.

Olivia howled. "It's freezing, Fitz! Give me the blanket back!"

"I'm just checking the temperature." He watched her nipples grew hard as the cool air touched her skin. "Yup. It is freezing." He dipped his head and dragged his tongue across the right pebble before taking it into his mouth and sucking enthusiastically.

She reached a hand down to run her fingers through his curly hair. "I'm still cold, babe." She whined. She knew exactly what he would do to appease her and she watched as he released her nipple and made his way over to the other one, showing it the same treatment. "Yesssss. I'm getting warmer." She panted out, throwing off the shirt.

Her back arched suddenly as she felt him slide one long finger inside of her. "Feels warm down there. Hot even. I'm going to go check it out." He wiggled his way further down the bed until his face hovered over her core, his finger still moving in and out of her. He opened her legs wide and planted kisses on her inner thighs and across her lips, causing her to twitch beneath him.

When he had decided that she had probably had enough torture, his mouth went to work on her. He licked and lapped and flicked his tongue all over her bundle of nerves and enjoyed feeling her alternate between trying to buck him off and riding his finger and tongue while she moaned and called his name, keeping a death grip on his hair. She drove him crazy with want.

Still he kept at it until she finally screamed, "Fiiiiiiitz!" Her body was shaking from the aftershocks and he figured it was safe to come up for air. He laid beside her, pulling the blanket with him and covered her up with it. Olivia immediately flung it back off while breathing hard. "Too hot," she panted.

Fitz looked over and her gloriously naked body and watched her chest heave up and down. The pebbles were gone. Job well done he congratulated himself, and put his hand under his neck. When her breathing was back to normal he said, "Are you really staying home today?"

She leaned over his chest and gave him a smacking kiss. "Someone has to keep us in the lap of luxury." She got up off the bed and stretched as he watched her like a starved wolf eyeing its prey. Before she went into the bathroom to start getting ready for the day, she looked over her shoulder and said, "Now THAT'S how you wake a woman up right!" She blew a kiss to him and shut the door.

She should have called in sick and stayed at home in bed with him all day. But she really wanted to talk to Abby. To tell her thank you for being such a good friend to both of them. For helping Fitz with everything. For keeping his secrets. For being so thoughtful and caring. For helping to make sure her proposal was the perfection it had been. She shook her head. She was not going to cry.

Olivia parked her car and got on the elevator. When she reached up with her left hand to push the number she needed, the gleam from her ring caught her eye. She smiled at it held it in front of her for closer inspection. Something she did at least ten times a day now. Fitz and Abby had picked the perfect ring for her. It was big enough to draw attention but not too big for her little finger. She couldn't wait until that band was slipped onto her finger by her handsome fiancé who would be wearing a tuxedo. Her thoughts wandered to her wedding day and all that needed to be done to make it amazing. She was going to need lots of help to accomplish it all in six weeks' time. Good thing she had Abby and Yvonne to help her out. As well as their parents of course.

But first she had to talk to Abby.

She got off the elevator and walked towards her office. Yvonne was on the phone but held up her index finger, signaling Olivia to wait. When the call was ended Yvonne said, "Abby is on her way in, but I wanted to remind you of a meeting you have scheduled for ten. Do you want me to push it back or reschedule it?"

Olivia looked at her watch. "I think it will be fine to leave it as is. That will give me over an hour with Abby. If I see a problem I'll let you know. Thank you for the reminder." Olivia lifted her cup to take a sip of her coffee.

"No probl..." Yvonne gasped. "What the hell is that rock on your finger? Ohmygod! Fitz proposed?"

Olivia nodded.

"And you said yes?!" She shrieked and then covered her mouth with her hands.

Olivia nodded again with a huge smile. "He proposed on Saturday. It was the most romantic thing I have ever experienced in my life, Yvonne."

"Ohmygod! You're getting married! I'm so excited for you!" She stood up and hugged her boss while jumping up and down. Once she stopped, she grabbed Olivia's hand and gazed admiringly at the ring. "And I'm happy for me too. I'm gonna look so cute! How did he propose? Where was it? Have you picked out our dresses yet? Where are you getting married? When is the date? What are your colors? I'm allowed to bring Jason, right? I mean, I'm going to, so I hope that's not a problem. What's on the menu? I have allergies, just so you know."

Olivia pulled away from her and chuckled. "Breathe, Yvonne. I don't have answers to most of those questions yet. But after my meeting with Abby I will tell you both everything about the proposal. If there's time. If not, then we can all go to lunch together and I'll tell you then." When she saw Yvonne open her mouth to speak, Olivia added, "And I won't leave anything out. I promise!"

Satisfied with her answer, Yvonne hugged her one more time and took her seat. The phone lit up and Yvonne said, "That's Abby." She answered the phone and said, "Ok. I'll tell her." Turning to Olivia she said, "Abby will be right in."

Olivia nodded and went into her office. She took a deep breath and reminded herself that she would not cry. Once settled, she set her purse down and instead of sitting in the chair behind her desk, went to the small couch. Again she looked lovingly at her engagement ring. The damned tears were already threatening to spill and Abby wasn't even here yet. Who was this emotional nightmare in her office right now? She dropped her ring hand, closed her eyes, and breathed evenly. She heard Yvonne exchange pleasantries with Abby and then her door opened. Olivia opened her eyes, feeling more sure of herself and less emotional.

"Hey, Liv. How was your weekend?" She asked smiling and sitting down next to her.

That was all it took. Olivia started bawling and hugged Abby tightly. She mumbled something unintelligible while Abby patted her back and rocked her back and forth. While Olivia continued crying and mumbling through her tears, Abby grinned. She knew Fitz would drop her name as a co-conspirator to make himself look better. She expected it and knew Olivia's text earlier this morning had something to do with the proposal she had helped out with. Her tiny friend didn't scare her.

Olivia pulled away from Abby and stood up, walking to her desk. She still had the broken breathing part of the crying, but it was subsiding now. She grabbed the box of tissues and blotted her face. Thank God for waterproof mascara, she thought to herself. She wiped her nose and threw the tissue away, but brought the box with her to the couch.

"Are you alright?" Abby asked.

Olivia gave her a small smile. "I will be. I just wanted to thank you. I don't know what that outburst was all about?"

"It's ok. You're entitled to have crazy feelings. You just got engaged to the perfect guy." Abby offered.

"It's not that, Abby. I knew the proposal was coming. It was how he did it. He told me that you helped him. Fitz told me about a lot of things that you helped him with and I wanted to talk to you about all of it. And I wanted to tell you that I love you for being his go-to person. Whether it was the proposal, or the argument we had that night, or picking out the ring months ago, telling my parents, or keeping his secrets. You have been an amazing friend to both of us. I mean, you are my best friend first but I love that Fitz feels comfortable enough with you to talk to about all of the things he has over the last few months."

"He threw me under the bus didn't he?" Abby asked while she folded her arms across her chest.

"The very next day!" Olivia chuckled.

"I knew he would. Jerk!" She teased. Abby grabbed Olivia's left hand and held it while she looked at the ring. "It was beautiful in the store, but seeing it on a velvet finger on a display pales in comparison to seeing it on yours. It looks like it was made for your hand."

"He told me you helped him pick it out. You done good. I absolutely love it!"

"What else did he tell you?"

"He told me that the two of you picked it out while I was busy working at the bakery. He told me THAT!"

Abby waved her hand in front of her face dismissively. "You lived. What else did he spill?"

"He told me that the night he and I fought he called you for advice." Olivia's bottom lip quivered, and she felt her eyes water.

"Keeping the ring in that damned drawer was stupid. I told him to keep it at my house, but men never listen." Abby rolled her eyes at her simple idea that would have saved an argument between Olivia and Fitz.

"So what was the advice you gave him? I never heard that part from Fitz." Abby plastered a fake smile on her face as her eyes darted around the room in an attempt to avoid answering the question. "Abby?"

"Of course he left me to answer that part." Abby took a deep breath and said, "I told him to lie to you." She cut her eyes to her friend.

Olivia's eyebrows shot up. "What was the lie you told him to tell me?"

"Uhhh, that he was looking to buy a house and to tell you that he didn't want to tell you until he closed on one." Abby waited.

Olivia started giggling, which turned into a full belly laugh. "If he had just said that, it would have ended the argument right there!"

Abby had joined her laughing and exclaimed, "Right?!" Once they both had stopped Abby added, "He didn't want to lie to you. It was the sweetest thing. He really fought with himself over just telling you about the ring that night. He's a good person, Liv. That's a damned rare thing in this day." She took a deep breath and said, "I'm sure he already told you, but just to clear the air, I put the WILL YOU MARRY ME tickets into the machine at the dry cleaners. And I drove like a maniac over to your place with dozens of roses to make you that ridiculously sweet trail he thought of. I cried doing it. The whole idea was his from start to finish. He just needed someone to help him carry it all out. And I was happy to help."

"When I got to the end of that and saw the key, it broke my heart. I kept thinking he was going to come in and take it away from me." Olivia confessed. "The damned note he left in the ring box pushed me over the edge."

"Wait. What note?" Abby asked.

"Oh! He didn't let you in on everything now did he?" Olivia stuck her tongue out at her friend while she waited for an explanation.

"Well? Let's hear it. I want to know what the note says!" Abby demanded.

Olivia got up from her place on the couch and retrieved her purse. She reached inside and pulled out the small black velvet box and brought it back to where Abby was patiently sitting and watching her. She passed the box to her redheaded friend and told her to open it.

Abby looked at Olivia, feeling like she was intruding on such a personal thing between her friend and her fiancé. Abby put the box back into Olivia's hand and said, "That's ok. I don't have to know what it says. I'm sure it's private and should probably stay that way."

"Open the damn box, Abs." Olivia said. "If I didn't want you to read it I wouldn't have offered it to you." When Abby still gave her a hesitant look, Olivia smiled and said, "It's ok. You've been a part of this from the beginning. I want to share it with you."

Abby took the box back and pulled the little lid back, revealing a tiny piece of folded paper inside. She set the box on the coffee table in front of them and proceeded to unfold the white paper. She read the simple words that must have melted her friend's heart upon reading. She held the note to her chest and said, "That is so beautiful. I would have been reduced to a puddle of tears."

"I was. The entire day was nothing I expected but everything I ever wanted. Fitz is the one for me, Abby."

"Who called that from day one?" Abby asked in a superior voice.

"I want you to know that I love you for everything. For being sure and...secretive. For encouraging and supporting me." Olivia smiled at Abby and pulled her in for another hug. "For being everything a best friend could possibly be and so much more. I am so glad and thankful to have you in my life."

"Why do you want me to start this day off with tears?" Abby sniffed while holding Olivia tightly. "You are the sister I never had. Or wanted. Other than my degree, you are the best thing to happen to me from college. I love you back."

Both of them took a minute to collect themselves and straighten out their faces. They shared a smile and Abby gave Olivia the velvet box and watched as she put it back inside her purse. Olivia looked at her watch. "I've got twenty minutes before my first meeting. Should we bring Yvonne in and tell her the story of Fitz's proposal?"

"You know she's listening at the door, right?" Abby asked rolling her eyes. "But yea. Go get her."

Olivia walked to her door and opened it. She poked her head outside her office and saw Yvonne on the phone. But it was upside down. And she was crying. Of course she had been eavesdropping. Olivia cleared her throat. "Would you like to come in and join us?"

Yvonne spoke three words in the ear piece and hastily hung up the phone. She didn't speak but nodded and got up out of her seat and walked in. Olivia shook her head back and forth with a smile as her assistant wiped her eyes. Once she was seated Olivia asked, "Are you ok?"

Yvonne stammered, "Uhh..yea. It was just...a...yea. I'm fine."

Abby grinned at her. "You suck at lying. But it's ok to cry."

"I wanna know what the note said too. Please?" Yvonne gave Olivia her saddest puppy dog eyes.

"Of course" Olivia said, taking it out of her purse and passing it to her. "I was going to show it to you after I finished talking to Abby but you're upset. Maybe it will help?"

"I know you're mocking me for listening to your conversation, but I really don't care right now," Yvonne said as she unfolded the paper and read it. "Ohmygod. That's so romantic."

"Would it cheer you up to hear about how Fitz proposed?" Olivia offered with a chuckle.

"I wasn't going to leave until you told me anyways," Yvonne said sniffling.

Olivia told them everything. The shopping. The fake emergency at the dry cleaners. Fitz getting on one knee. The roses at the house. The ring box with the note inside. They ooooh'ed and ahhhh'ed through the entire thing.

"Now! We have decided to get married on New Year's Eve. So..."

"What?" Abby exclaimed. "That's like six weeks away!"

"I'm aware of that," Olivia said.

"There's so much to do! We've got to get invitations, and organize a bachelorette party, pick colors, get dresses for us, for you! What the hell were the two of you thinking when you chose that as your wedding date?" Abby said exasperatedly.

"Yea? All that stuff she said! What were you thinking?" Yvonne asked.

Olivia smiled at the two women who were her closest friends. "We want to go into the new year being married to each other."

"Can the two of you do anything that's not fucking perfect?" Abby looked at Yvonne for back up. She got a scrunched up face and a nod. "I mean really, Liv?"

Olivia chuckled at them. "Six weeks is doable. The three of us can handle it! I'll make up three lists and we will divide and conquer everything. And have time to enjoy a night out in between. We've. Got. This."

"Yea! We can do it. Where's my list? I'll get right on it." Yvonne said boldly.

"I...haven't exactly made the lists yet." Olivia said quietly.

"Cancel your meeting this morning and get going! We need cute dresses! I say the first thing we do is go find those! Like tomorrow night after work. Are both of you free?" Yvonne asked.

Olivia looked at Abby. Abby shrugged at her. "I've got nothing every night but newlywed sex." Olivia laughed at her friend and claimed to have nothing planned.

"That can be rescheduled." Yvonne said to Abby. "I'll make some calls to a few dress stores and try make an appointment for the three of us for tomorrow afternoon. I'll email both of you to let you know where and what time the appointment is at."

"She is so efficient, Liv. I'm glad she's one of us." Abby joked.

"No kidding," Olivia said impressed. "Maybe I should just give her the whole list?"

"You mean, when you actually make it?" Yvonne said sarcastically.

"No way! I want to help too!" Abby declared loudly. "I expect a list by the end of the day tomorrow. We've got a lot to do in an unbelievably short amount of time. Do you even know where you want to get married, Liv?"

Olivia's eyes darted between the two women who clearly had decided they would be planning everything. "We haven't really talked about it yet." She offered meekly.

"If the two of you would stay off each other long enough, you might be able to have a conversation!" Abby said.

"This coming from the woman whose only after work plans are newlywed sex?" Olivia said with a chuckle.

"At least I got married, bitch! If you and Fitz don't have a conversation about the details, we can't help you carry out those details. Time is of the essence. When you get home, put on your rattiest pajamas and spread some ugly green facemask goo all over your face. The last thing he will think about is sex. Come on, Liv! You've got to take a celibate night for the damned team." Abby huffed.

"He just proposed to me two days ago! It's not like we've put it off for weeks or months."

"That's true, Abby." Yvonne agrees, earning her a nod from Liv.

"That is true. And do you know what else is true? I'll tell you what. The two of you want to get married on the last day of the year, which is six weeks away. And in order to do that we have to get busy. There are six weeks left. According to all of the brides books you should have already planned the guest list, made up a budget, booked the ceremony and reception sites, bought your gown and bridesmaids gowns, booked your photographer, get registered for gifts, picked out your flowers..." Abby watched as Olivia's eyes grew wide with concern. "Yea. All that and a lot more. So, like I said, no more sex until Yvonne and I have our lists. Got it?"

"Fine!" Olivia rolled her eyes. She didn't like that plan at all, but knew it had to be done. Abby was right. She and Fitz had to have a conversation about the wedding. She needed to know what he wanted and she needed to share what she wanted. There really was a lot to be done and both of them had get moving. "I'll talk to Fitz tonight and we'll figure out what we're doing."

"And?" Abby asked.

"And I'm not promising no sex, Abby. You DO know what he looks like, right?" Olivia asked with raised eyebrows. Yvonne made an appreciative noise and Olivia cut her eyes to her. "But we will make the list before anything happens. Ok?"

"My work here is done," Abby chirped. She stood up and left her friend's office with a spring in her step. She knew she would have the list before lunchtime the next day. Olivia was efficient above all.

Yvonne followed Abby out the door and Olivia went to her desk and settled herself in her plush leather chair. She picked up her phone and called Fitz.

"Hi, future wife," he flirted.

This was supposed to be a serious conversation, but Olivia couldn't help the smile that spread across her face at his sexy voice. "Hi, future husband. How is your morning going?"

"It's gone downhill since I got out of bed." he chuckled. "How about yours?"

"We should have taken a sick day." She said still smiling.

"There's always tomorrow." He offered, grinning like a fool.

"We'll have an entire week off after we get married. We need to talk tonight. About the wedding."

"That sounds serious."

"Abby just left my office and basically bullied me into making a list of who, what, when, and where for all of the wedding details. And she wants it by the end of the day tomorrow. That means lunchtime."

"I'm glad I'm not marrying her." He chuckled.

"She wanted me to enforce a no sex rule until the list is done."

"She doesn't know how good we are at it though." Fitz teased.

"Fitz! She's right." Olivia said impatiently.

"Excuse me? Our wedding is six weeks away. There is no way in hell we are going to be celibate for that long. I don't care who suggested it."

"I didn't mean that part." He was kinda sexy when he was wound up, Olivia decided. "Besides, we really are very very good at it." She heard him breathe heavily into the phone. "But. We do need to decide on what kind of wedding we want and where we want to have it. We need to make some decisions or we'll run out of time. There are literally a million things that have to be dealt with."

There was silence on the phone for a few moments as Fitz decided she was right. He wasn't done flirting with his fiancé yet though. "You bring home something for dinner because it is your night to deal with it..." He heard Olivia sigh into the phone. He knew she hated the mundane task, and that was part of the reason he liked to remind her of it. "...And we will talk about all things dream wedding. But the first thing we are going to deal with, as you put it, is sex. That'll show Abby." He wondered what she thought of that?

"Mmmm. That will show her. I'll see you at home later."

"I'll be the hot naked guy in the living room."

"I'll be the short handsy chick. I love you, future husband."

"I love you, future wife."


	50. Thankful

Thankful

"Thad, I swear to god, if you don't stop playing with the girls and get them dressed I'm going to kick your A-S-S." Robin threatened. They had been at the spelling part of life since Megan had repeated a curse word to one of their neighbors a while back.

Her husband chuckled at her. She was at the beginning of her second trimester of this pregnancy. She was cranky and tired, which were normal. But added to that, she was all belly. It was early days, but Thad was convinced she was carrying a boy. Thad loved his girls. All three of them. To be the only man in their lives was an amazing thing and huge responsibility. One he took extremely seriously. He liked to have fun with them too though. But Thad wanted another male to balance out all of the estrogen in the house. This was going to be their last baby no matter what and while he was hoping for a boy, he just wanted him or her to be healthy above all.

"Elizabeth! Megan! You heard your mother. She is going to do mean things to daddy if you don't stop playing and get ready." The two girls groaned loudly and he shot a victorious look at his wife.

"I H-A-T-E you," she sang.

"That's not what you were saying about four months ago," he sang back as he rubbed her belly before helping the girls finish getting ready.

Robin grinned at him. She could practically read his mind. She knew he wanted a son. A little spitting image of himself in every way to play ball with and catch frogs with and make her life even more crazy with. She didn't have the heart to tell him it was another girl just yet. She had just found out the week before and had come up with a creative way to tell him today. "Alright, ladies. It's time to get into the car and head over to Nana and Pop's house."

She picked up a small white glass casserole dish and made her way to the door as her family followed behind her. Thad looked at the dish and said, "What's that? Mom said we didn't need to bring anything."

She shrugged and said, "It's a surprise I made to go with dinner."

The four of them walked out of their hotel room and got into an elevator. Thad leaned over to his wife's ear and whispered, "You are so sexy when you're pregnant."

"We're not having another one, so forget it." She said with a chuckle. "But I love you for saying that."

The four of them arrived at the Grant house at one and the two girls immediately ran to their Pops for big hugs and a sweet treat. Elizabeth and Megan had the man wrapped around their little finger and all three of them knew it. Thad walked to his father to give him a hug as well, but the older Grant man didn't even look at him. He was happy being surrounded by his favorite girls. Thomas gave the girls each a small chocolate and told them not to tell anyone. They grinned conspiratorially with their grandfather and giggled quietly in agreement.

"Hello, Robin. How are you?" Thomas asked, giving her an affectionate hug as Thad watched in surprise. He didn't get a damn hug.

"I'm doing great. How about you?" She watched him settle the girls on his lap.

"So much better now that I have my girls here. When are the four of you gonna move here so we can see them all the time?" Thomas had no shame in laying on the guilt.

Robin laughed at him. "We're thinking about it actually."

Thomas grinned at her. "Is that a fact? Maybe you'll find one before the little one gets here?" Robin's eyes went wide with surprise. But before she could say anything Fitz and Olivia walked in the door. "Heyyyy! Look who it is! The fiancé's have arrived."

Robin made her hasty exit to the kitchen to give Emma her dish and the instructions that went with it. She returned to the living room smiling and hugged Fitz and Olivia.

"Dad," Fitz chuckled, reaching over the girls and giving him a hug. Olivia followed suit and Thad shot his father a glare and went to find his mother in the kitchen.

"I wanna see the ring!" Robin exclaimed excitedly. When she had Olivia's hand in hers Robin looked up at Fitz and said, "Oh my goodness! It's gorgeous."

"Only the best for her," Fitz said as he stood beside Olivia. The two women chatted amongst themselves while Fitz looked over at his father and the two smiling girls with chocolate around their mouths. He picked up Elizabeth and said, "How are my lady bugs today?"

Elizabeth kissed his cheek, smearing chocolate on him in the process, and hugged his neck. "We're good, Uncle Fitz."

Megan looked over at Olivia and held her arms out wanting to be picked up too. Olivia stuck her tongue out at Fitz and swooped in to pick her up. "How has Miss Megan been since the last time I saw you?" Olivia asked.

"I been good." The little girl said as she played with Olivia's necklace. "Do you have a baby in your belly, aunt Olivia?"

Olivia's eyes went wide as saucers and every eye in the room went to them. "What? No, honey. I don't."

"Can I tell you a secret? You can't tell nobody. Not even uncle Fitz." Megan said solemnly.

"Of course you can," Olivia said grinning.

The little girl leaned close to Olivia's ear and not so quietly said, "Mommy has a baby in her belly right now." She looked at Olivia and smiled. Olivia smiled back at her. Mostly because the entire room had just heard Megan's secret.

Olivia looked over at Robin and saw her shaking her head back and forth with a smile on her face. She immediately turned back to the little girl in her arms and whispered back, "I think that is amazing. You're going to be a big sister!"

Megan's cute little face turned into a look of worry. "I mununo how ta be a big sister." She whispered loudly.

Olivia smiled at her and held her close, reassuring her and whispered, "I know someone who can teach you how to be a great big sister." When Megan pulled away from her, Olivia pointed to Elizabeth. "She's the best big sister." Megan giggled and squirmed out of Olivia's arms, running to Fitz to pick her up so she could be near her sister.

Robin sighed loudly and said, "I guess that's one way to announce it to the family?" Olivia went to her and hugged her telling her congratulations, followed by Thomas.

"Congratulations! Do you know what you're having yet?" Fitz asked kissing her cheek.

Robin looked around the room and nodded. "Thad doesn't know yet. But I'm telling him when we eat."

Emma came around the corner with Thad's arm wrapped around her waist. "What's all the commotion out here?"

"Nana!" The two girls squealed from their uncle's arms. They both wiggled to be set down and Fitz complied, watching them run to their grandmother, effectively shoving their dad out of the way.

"Mommy just told everyone that she has a baby in her tummy," Elizabeth exclaimed.

Thad looked up at his brother and smirked. "That's three for me. None for you."

"Thad," his wife warned.

"We'll catch up to you in no time." Fitz said smugly and put his arm around Olivia.

"We who? I'm not having three kids just so you can beat your brother in another crazy contest of who has the biggest male pride."

"Thaddaeus! Fitzgerald! Hush!" Emma said firmly. "This is happy news. I'm going to have another grandbaby. When are you due, dear?"

Robin grinned at her mother in law's effective ways of keeping order between her children. She was mentally taking notes as she put her hand on her belly. "This little Grant is due April eighth. And it will be our last." She said firmly, looking at her husband. "We also have some other news to share. We are thinking of moving to New York before the baby gets here."

Everyone cheered loudly at this tidbit. Fitz grabbed his brother for a hug. "Finally! It'll be nice to have you all here, little brother. Family is important."

"You know, Betty Crocker, if we move here you won't be the favorite anymore, right?" Thad said grinning with his arm around his brother's shoulder.

Fitz chuckled at Thad. "That's the most adorable thing you've ever said. I'm getting married next month. Favoritism is in the bag for me."

"Pfff. I'm having a baby. You can't top that if you tried."

"Maybe not. But I can have sex as often and as loud and in any room that I want to." Fitz boasted quietly. Thad's face fell at that fact. "Congrats on the new baby, by the way." Fitz slapped him on the back and walked to where his mother was standing. "Hey, mom," he said kissing her cheek. "How's my best girl?"

Two females heads turned in his direction, both giving him the stink eye. Emma smiled at her foolish son and said, "I think you have some explaining to do, dear?"

Fitz turned around and caught the glares he was getting from Elizabeth and Megan. The two younger Grant women had their hands crossed in front of them and watched as their uncle walked to them. Megan and Elizabeth were sitting on Olivia's lap on the couch so he squatted down in front of them and said, "Why the angry faces?"

Megan started smiling at him, but when she saw her sister's mad face, she immediately scrunched her face up again at him. Fitz almost laughed at her. "Uncle Fitz, you always say that we are your best girls. You can't have more than two best girls!" Elizabeth informed him.

Megan looked at her sister's still mad face and said, "Yea!"

"Olivia? Some help here?" Fitz asked.

But Olivia was struggling with containing her laughter behind the girls backs. She put her arms around the girls and in a serious tone said, "I think you need to explain yourself."

Fitz pushed his lips together to suppress the laugh that threatened to escape his lips. When he got it under control he nodded his head at the girls and said, "Your Nana is my mom. And I have known her a very long time. She's always been my best girl. But you two," he said as he picked them up together, "are my lady bugs. And how many cute little girls do I call my lady bugs?"

Megan poked her chubby finger at his cheek. "Just us!"

"Yea!" Elizabeth chimed in. "Nobody else. Unless mommy has a baby girl. Then there will be three lady bugs. Right, Uncle Fitz?"

He blew raspberries on their adorable cheeks. "Yes ma'am. Nobody else is allowed to be my lady bugs. I promise." They kissed his cheek and hugged his neck, forgiving everything.

A knock on the door had everyone in the room turning their heads in that direction. "Lila! Nathaniel! We're so glad you could make it."

Olivia's parents walked in the door and were warmly greeted by all of the Grants. They both had their hands full with casserole dishes and Emma ushered them into the kitchen. "I'll take that for you Mr. Pope," Thad offered warmly. Olivia followed them, offering to help.

"Thank you." Nathaniel said, passing him the dish he had been carrying. He was introduced to Robin and the girls and then went to sit down beside Thomas and the two men struck up a conversation.

In the kitchen Thad was helping the two mothers by uncovering the dishes Olivia's mother had brought, finding serving spoons, and taking the dishes to the table. The three women watched the eager younger Grant and chuckled amongst themselves. "He likes to help doesn't he?" Lila asked Emma.

"Not really. He's either in here to get closer to the food or he's trying to get some extra attention from me. I haven't figured it out just yet."

"There's only one way to find out," Lila said with a grin. "Thad? I think I put too much salt in the sweet potatoes. Would you mind trying them and giving me your opinion please?"

Thad made a face and covered it with a polite smile. "I'm sorry Miss Lila, but I'm not really a fan of sweet potatoes."

"It's definitely the attention," Lila chuckled. Turning her attention back to Thad she said, "That's ok. Come here and tell me about yourself."

Thad pounced on the opportunity to talk about himself to a new listening ear. He stood next to her at the kitchen counter and said, "Sure. What would you like to know?"

"Tell me about your beautiful family." She shot a look at Olivia and said, "Someone had to good sense to give their momma grandkids." Olivia rolled her eyes playfully at her mother, knowing full well what she was doing.

Thad gave her a genuine smile. He was proud of his family. "I've been married to Robin for eight years. We currently live in Colorado but are going to start looking for houses here so we can move closer to my family. Hopefully before the baby arrives in April."

"You're having a new baby?" Lila grabbed him up in a hug. "Congratulations."

"Yes ma'am we are." Thad replied, reciprocating the hug. "Thank you. We are excited about the new addition."

Emma and Olivia shot each other an amused look. Lila was petting him as if she was his grandmother and he was eating it up. There would be no getting rid of him for girl talk in the kitchen now.

"If there's anything we can do to help make the move a little smoother, you just let us know. We are family now and family helps each other." Lila stated matter of factly.

"Thank you, Lila. I appreciate that. And I will definitely keep that in mind." Thad said smiling.

"Everything is ready. I think it's time to go gather everyone to the table." Emma said. She walked into the living room and announced, "Alright everyone. Let's go eat."

Before the meal was devoured Thomas stood up at the end of the long table and said, "I'd like to take a minute to say thank you to each one of you for coming here to spend Thanksgiving with us. It's a tradition here each year to go around the table and listen as each person tells what they are thankful for. I am thankful for a healthy family that is continuing to grow." He took his seat and looked to Thad, who was to his left.

Thad stood up and said, "I am thankful for my wife and two beautiful daughters. As well as the one we have yet to meet. May it be a boy who is as handsome as his father."

"Your mailman is ugly as sin," Fitz replied, causing everyone to laugh.

"Fitzgerald!" Emma chided. "Hush your mouth!"

"Yes ma'am," he said quietly.

Robin stood up and gave Emma a wink, causing her to pass the small casserole dish down to her. She looked at her husband and said, "I am thankful for surprises. I brought you some special mashed potatoes." She lifted the lid and scooped out a spoonful and plopped them on his plate.

Thad looked at the pink frothy glob on his plate and looked to his wife in question. "What is this?"

"This is my way of telling you that we are having another girl. I found out last week and wanted to surprise you." She looked at Thad, gauging his face for disappointment.

Thad broke out into a huge happy smile and picked her up in a tight embrace. "We're having another girl? Really?" Robin giggled into his neck and shook her head. Thad pecked her lips and rubbed her belly. "I'm so excited! I LOVE girls! I ROCK with girls!" He released his wife and went to his daughters and held them close as everyone at the table clapped and gave congratulations. "You guys are getting a sister! Isn't that awesome?!" The two girls screeched happily and hugged their father tight.

Once everyone was mostly settled down, Megan was next. She stood up on her chair and said with a grin, "I'm fankful for turkey." The adults chuckled at her honesty.

Elizabeth quietly stood up and politely said, "I'm thankful that I'm getting a new baby sister." Everyone gave an 'awwww' at her admission and she smiled

Emma stood up from her spot at the opposite end of the table and said, "I am thankful that my two crazy sons have each found an intelligent, beautiful, and loving woman to help set them straight." Chuckles were heard around the table to help set them straight." Chuckles were heard around the table. "I'm thankful for my grandchildren. The ones I have with me and the ones I have yet to meet." Thad rubbed Robin's belly while Fitz rubbed Olivia's thigh under the table. Emma looked at Nathaniel and Lila and finished by saying, "And I am thankful for new friends who feel like they have always been family. My cup runneth over."

"Leave it to mom to steal the show," Fitz joked.

"Don't make me kick your ass on Thanksgiving, Sonny," Thomas threatened. Olivia chuckled at her soon to be father in law and shot him a wink.

"Pops said ass," Megan shared.

"Pops is going in the naughty corner after he eats," Thad told her with a smile, followed by raised eyebrows at his father.

Lila stifled her chuckle and stood up. "I am thankful that I got to know this wonderful family. Thomas and Emma have welcomed us into their home and their lives like we always belonged here. Getting to know Thad and Robin and their growing little family has been a joy for me too. I can't wait to see the new beautiful baby when she gets here. I'll be looking at baby clothes the next time I'm out."

"Oh, Lord," Nathaniel replied quietly.

Lila turned her gaze toward her soon to be son in law. "And I'm thankful for Fitz. He is the perfect man for my baby. He's the perfect man for anyone with a pulse," she said as everyone laughed and Thad rolled his eyes. "But I'm so very thankful that they found each other and love each other like they do. It's a beautiful thing to see." She started to sit down in her chair but got back up quickly. "Oh! And I want a grandbaby by the end of next year!"

Fitz and Olivia looked at each other and shook their heads with smiling faces.

Nathaniel stood up and said, "I am thankful for new friends. If Olivia and Fitz hadn't met each other, I never would have met Thomas and his wonderful family. Thank you for welcoming us into your home and making us feel like part of the family before we even became family. And as much as I would like to watch these two enjoy life together for a while, I second the demand for a grandbaby. We need one soon!"

Olivia giggled at her father and leaned her head on his shoulder before standing up. She gazed at every person seated at the table before she spoke. "I am thankful for all of you. In your own way you each make me a better person and I love you all for it." Her eyes met Fitz's and her lip quivered slightly. "But I am most thankful for you. That you found me. That you saw me. And that you love me the way you do. I love you future husband."

Fitz stood up beside her and kissed her lightly but lovingly and slid his arm around her waist. "I am thankful for family. Family really is the most important thing and I have a wonderful one. I can't wait to have my little brother and his family living closer to us. It really does mean the world to me that you all will be nearby. I've missed having you around Thad. And as much as I love all of you, I am most thankful for Olivia." He held her hand and gave her a smile. "You are my everything and I can't wait to start our married lives together. I love you future wife." He kissed her again and everyone clapped.

"I'm hungwee," Megan whined.

"Yes, let's eat before everything gets cold." Emma said as she wiped her eyes.

Once dinner was over, the men were sprawled out on the couches and chairs in the living room complaining of eating too much as the two girls watched the parade. The women cleaned up the kitchen and chatted amongst themselves. "So Liv, what things do you have done for the wedding and what things need to be done?" Robin asked as she dried off a serving bowl.

"Well, our colors are going to be navy and gold. Abby, Yvonne and I found their bridesmaids dresses last week at this really cute boutique not too far from the office. They are beautiful navy chiffon column Vneck dresses that are floor length. There's a little band of gold beading around the waist. The girls look stunning in them! The invitations have been printed and we should be getting them any day now so we can mail them out. A friend of a friend is going to be our photographer. Fitz's right hand at the bakery, Charlotte, is going to make our cake. We've gotten a lot done."

"What about your wedding dress? Have you found one yet?" Emma asked.

At the mention of her own dress, Olivia's face fell a little. "I haven't found one yet. Abby and Yvonne have taken me to quite a few dress store and boutiques but I haven't found the one I want. I'm getting kind of nervous about it," she admitted.

Emma touched her shoulder. "I wouldn't worry about it, dear. These things always happen when you least expect it. Maybe the four of us should go shopping together and see what we can find?"

"That's a great idea, Em." Lila said with a smile.

"I'd love to get out of the hotel room and have some adult time," Robin added.

Olivia smiled at them. "That would be great. We could make it a day and have lunch together too. What day do you want to go?"

"Why not tomorrow?" Robin asked excitedly.

"You want to go wedding dress shopping on Black Friday? Seriously?" Olivia looked at her soon to be sister in law like she had lost her mind.

"Why not? It's the best day to find the best deals. The stores are super crowded, I'll admit. But it's an adventure. The thrill of the hunt!" Robin declared.

"I'm game if you two youngsters are," Lila offered.

"I'm with Lila," Emma agreed.

The three women looked at Olivia expectantly. "Who am I to say no? To the thrill of the hunt!"

"Great! I'm going to go wake up Thad and let him know he's going to watch the girls tomorrow." Robin looked to Emma and added, "He's going to end up over here. I hope that's ok with Thomas?"

Emma smiled at her daughter in law and crooked her index finger at her. The three women followed her into the living room and almost burst into laughter at the sight before them. Everyone was asleep. Thad and Fitz had their heads in the middle of one couch with their long legs hanging off the opposite ends. Nathaniel was on the other couch and had his hands folded across his belly. And Thomas was sitting in his recliner with an arm around each granddaughter, who were asleep on either side of him. "I don't think that is going to be a problem at all, dear." Emma said smiling wistfully.


	51. Black Friday

Black Friday

At the ridiculous hour of five a.m. Olivia heard the alarm going off, signaling her that it was time to get up and go shopping with the girls. Black Friday shopping. She reached over to the nightstand and turned the damn thing off and then rolled over to see two pretty blue eyes looking at her. "Hi" he said with a smile.

"Hi" she replied as she snuggled close to his chest. "Why didn't we agree to meet at noon to go shopping?" Olivia whined.

"Because by then everything would have already been gone. The early bird gets the worm." Fitz encouraged.

"The early bird can kiss my ass," she stated.

Fitz laughed at her logic and asked, "What time do you have to leave?"

Olivia, who had shut her eyes and was trying to go back to sleep grumbled, "Five thirty."

"Whoa! You've got to get your ass out of bed. There's no time for dilly dallying." Fitz said, pulling the blanket off of her.

"Did you just say dilly dallying? What are you eighty years old? No one says that anymore, babe." She rolled over onto her back and lifted the front of her shirt. "Besides, don't you want to know how cold it is today?"

Fitz stared at her breasts and seriously contemplated getting back into bed with her and warming her up. The internal struggle was so real and he watched Olivia grin widely at him, thinking she had him right where she wanted him. He tore his gaze away from her and said, "Nah. If I want to know what the temperature is I'll go outside and check it myself. You have to get up. You can't keep the girls waiting."

Her face immediately turned sour and she pulled the front of her shirt back down. She sputtered out, "Fine!" at him and then stomped into the bathroom, slamming the door.

Fitz walked out to the kitchen and started making coffee while Olivia got ready. She emerged twenty minutes later wearing jeans and a pretty cream sweater and some cute brown boots. Her face looked perfect, as always, and he held out the coffee with puckered lips to give her a kiss. "No thanks. If I want coffee I'll go to Starbucks and get it myself."

His response was a raised eyebrow followed by a stern voice. "You are not leaving this house without giving me a kiss, woman."

"Early birds don't like kisses." She stuck her tongue out at him and he lunged for it. Olivia laughed and said, "Stay away from me."

Fitz kept walking her way and she kept walking backwards until eventually she came to a stop in front of the refrigerator. Fitz smirked at her. "Whatcha gonna do now, smartass?" He watched her look around for an escape but Fitz put his hands on either side of her body, caging her in. "You want to stick that tongue out one more time? Or do you want me to come and get it myself?"

"Fitz, don't you da..."

But it was too late. Fitz moved one hand up to cup the back of her head, holding her still as he crushed his lips to hers. She moaned into his mouth and he took that opportunity to capture her tongue. He sucked on it for a moment, feeling Olivia's hands move up to his shoulders, pulling him closer. When he released her tongue she plunged hers into his mouth connecting with his.

He slipped his hands up under her sweater and discovered there was another shirt underneath. He pulled it from the waistband of her jeans and moved the material up her ribcage and over her breasts along with her bra. He hummed appreciatively as his hands massaged them, never breaking the kiss. He pulled away from her lips and sunk down to his knees, pulling one of her nipples into his mouth while one hand massaged the other breast and his right hand grabbed onto her ass.

Olivia was breathing hard and trying to decide if she wanted to make him stop or drag him back to bed. Her hands had found their way into his curls and she was pulling his face as close as possible to where his amazing tongue was currently driving her insane. Fitz's mouth let go of the hardened pebble it had been attached to and immediately he latched onto the other one. He heard her mumble something about 'damn birds' but he was only halfway paying attention.

A few minutes later, he released her puckered nipple and put her clothing back in place. For the most part. He stood up to face her and grinned at the love drunk expression on her face. "That should teach you not to stick your tongue out at me again, future wife." He pecked her lips and watched her eyes flutter open. Even with disheveled clothes, swollen well kissed lips, and the not to be missed take me back to bed look in her eye, she was beautiful. "I made you some coffee to keep you warm."

Olivia grabbed the front of his t-shirt, pulled him to her, and said seductively, "We are picking this up where we left off when I get home. Get your rest. You're gonna need it big guy."

Fitz pulled her even closer and kissed her passionately, "That's for luck. To find the dress of your dreams. Happy shopping, babe. Text me when you're close to home so I can be naked and waiting. I love you."

She smiled at him. She was going to torture him throughout the day with sexy texts. To keep him on his toes. "I love you more."

"It's not possible. Now get out and shop til you drop." He said with a grin and a smack to her ass. "And buy me something sexy for later."

She walked out the door, coffee in hand, and thought there was no way in hell she could buy lingerie with his mother in tow. Maybe Robin would create a diversion for her? He was bringing her playful side out again. She tucked her shirt into her jeans again and got into her car.

The four women met up at Emma's house and took her car. They figured one car would be easier to find parking for than four. They were right! They drove to a large retail store in the city and had to park in a parking deck several blocks away. And even then the spaces were very limited. Cars were going in and out and people were not being very considerate to other drivers either. Finally they found a space somewhere on the ninth level. Emma parked the car, locked the doors, and the four women headed toward the elevator on a mission to bring home a very specific white dress.

Six stores and a pit stop for breakfast later, the determined feeling had faded fast. "Don't worry, sweet girl. We're going to find it. And if we don't find it today, it won't be for lack of trying. You hang in there and keep your chin up."

Olivia smiled, gave her mother a hug, and felt her spirits lift some. "Thanks, momma."

She pulled out her phone and sent Fitz a text.  
 _Still no dress. I hope you're napping_

Back at home Fitz chuckled at her text and sent a reply.  
 _Just wear a paper bag. Come home NOW_

Olivia grinned and her fingers busily moved across her phone.  
 _Paper bags are so 1852. Patience_  
Satisfied that she had gotten the last word, Olivia put her phone in her purse.

Lila suggested a high end bridal salon for them to continue the hunt for the dress so they got into the car and drove across town to see what they could find. Before they walked in everyone had their faces in their phone. Lila let out a 'hmmm' noise before sending a reply and dropping it back into her bag. Robin announced that Thad had indeed taken the girls to his parent's house. Emma grinned at the photo Thomas had sent her of the girls. Once everyone had taken care of business the four eager women went into the store.

Olivia tried on several dresses and the women oooh'ed and ahhh'ed over them, but none of them felt right to her. She wondered if she was overthinking it? If she should just settle for something and buy it to end the misery of trying to find the perfect dress? She sighed heavily and went back to the changing room to try on the next dress.

Tracey, the sweet and helpful store assistant, said, "This one didn't work either?"

"It's not exactly what I'm looking for." Olivia admitted.

"Your sweet mother chose a dress for you to try on. Are you willing to give it a try?"

"Sure. At this point I'll try on anything."

Tracey hung the beautiful dress on the wall next to Olivia. It was an off the shoulder gown with embroidered lace applique and had tulle over satin. It also had a deep sweetheart neckline and lace cap sleeves as well as a scalloped hemline. It was gorgeous. "What do you think about this beauty?"

"It's absolutely stunning," Olivia breathed. "What does the back look like?" Tracey turned the gown around revealing the back of it to her. It had a low lace back with crystal button closures and a dropped waist. Olivia ran her fingers over the material to feel the texture of it. "And you said my mother chose this dress?"

"Yes, ma'am. She has excellent taste, if I may say so?" Tracey said smiling.

"She really does. I'm halfway in love with it already."

"Are you ready to try it on and see how it looks?"

"I don't know. I have tried on so many dresses. Some I liked. Some I didn't. I'm scared that as much as I love the way it looks on the hanger, I'll hate the way it looks on me."

"There's only one way to find out." At Olivia's nod, Tracey opened the buttons on the dress and pulled it up Olivia's little frame. She then refastened each button snugly at her back and fluffed out the small train behind it. Tracey stood back and whispered, "Wow."

Olivia had kept her eyes closed during the entire ordeal. She was too afraid of what she might see, or not see in the mirror in front of her. She nervously opened her right eye and took a peek.

The dress talked to her. Olivia distinctly heard it saying 'I'm the one'.

Her left eye popped open and she blinked them both a few times to make sure she was seeing what she thought she was seeing. Perfection. There was no other word for it. She turned around to look at the back view for flaws or something she didn't like. There was nothing to dislike. The gown was a little too long and would have to be hemmed about an inch and a half, but other than that it fit her perfectly everywhere else.

"Ohmygod!" She shrieked and then quickly covered her mouth with both hands. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to do that." She apologized.

"I almost did the same thing to be honest," Tracey admitted with a grin. "It looks amazing on you. The length is a little long, but you aren't wearing heels and that could make all the difference."

"I forgot all about the shoes! I probably should have bought those beforehand?" Olivia wondered.

"Some women do. Some don't. It's no big deal. If you decide on a dress today, you can always bring them back here and try it on again with them on to see if it will need to be hemmed." Tracey offered politely.

Olivia smiled at Tracey in the mirror. "That's a great idea. Before I go out there, please tell me what you honestly think of this dress. Not as a saleswoman looking to make a commission, but as a woman looking at another woman who might be in her wedding dress."

"In my honest opinion? This dress looks like it was made for you. It's flattering to your great figure but it doesn't overpower your petite stature. You really look perfect in this dress."

"I might have just found my wedding dress!" Olivia realized. "I've got to go show them this dress. But will you do me a favor, please?"

"Of course." Tracey said.

"I don't want to look over eager to them. Or give away how I am feeling about this dress. I want to know their honest opinion of it without having to sell it to them. Does that make sense?" She asked, thinking she sounded like a lunatic.

"I know exactly what you mean. Don't worry about a thing. I'll put on my best poker face and we will see what they think of it. Alright?" Olivia nodded her head and straightened her own face. She was anxious to see what the three women thought.

She walked out to where they were sitting, enjoying a Mimosa in a fluted glass. Olivia was going to ask for one as soon as she got this dress off her body. She walked up to the small platform in front of three floor length mirrors and waited for Tracey to fluff out the train once again. Olivia listened as all chatter from the three women died immediately.

Emma was the first one to speak and started walking toward her future daughter in law as Olivia's own mother and Robin followed close behind. They all had shell shocked expressions on their faces. "Olivia, dear. You are a vision. Truly. This wedding dress is absolutely gorgeous on you. My son's jaw is going to hit the floor when he sees you. Assuming you like it too?"

"It's breathtaking on you," Robin said eyeing Olivia from head to toe.

Lila couldn't speak for the longest time. She just stared at her daughter, taking in the sight in front of her. She too, felt the material of the dress and then went back to looking at the detailing of the dress.

"Momma? What do you think?" Olivia asked cautiously.

"The more important question is what do you think?" Lila asked.

"I'd really like to know your thoughts on it before I share mine."

"I think you look absolutely flawless. I think whoever made this dress had to have had you in mind somehow. I think if this is the dress you end up wearing then your daddy is gonna cry at the wedding. But what I think really doesn't matter. It's what you think that matters, baby girl."

"I think that it feels light. And feminine. And I feel beautiful in it. And it's not too much material to make me feel like a marshmallow. I think I have finally found my wedding dress!" She exclaimed. "And I have you to thank for it. Tracey told me that you picked it out. Thank you, momma."

Mother and daughter hugged each other in the midst of tears and smiles. "Something told me to pick it up and I'm glad that I did. Thank you, Jesus, the search is over! Let's go pay for it!"

Olivia put her hand on her mother's wrist, stopping her from taking her wallet out of her purse. "You are not paying for this dress, momma!"

"Like hell I'm not!" Lila warned.

"This dress is very expensive! I can't have you putting out that much money for me. I've got it." Olivia quietly demanded.

"You are my child. My ONLY child. So unless you have a death wish, you will let go of my wrist, go take off that very expensive dress, and let me do this." She chuckled at her daughter and touched her cheek. "In all seriousness, your daddy and I really want to do this for you. You've already got most everything else paid for. Let us buy your dress. Please?"

Olivia nodded her head and said, "Thank you." She turned to Tracey and said, "I'll be by here one evening next week with my shoes and we will see if it still needs to be hemmed. Is that alright?"

Tracey smiled at her and replied, "That will be perfectly fine. We'll get it steamed and have it waiting for you. Here's my card. If you'll call me ahead of time I'll have the dress already in one of the changing rooms for you to try on."

"Of course." Olivia went back to the dressing room to change back into her street clothes. Before she changed she had Tracey take a few photos of her from all sides with her cell phone. She wanted to be able to show the dress to Abby and Yvonne at work the following week. She had found her dress!  
She pulled out her phone and sent her fiancé a text.  
 _Guess what?_

Fitz had been at home washing the bedsheets with high anticipation of messing them up once Olivia got home. He was in the middle of making the bed back up when he heard his phone alert him to a text, but couldn't find it. He looked on the bedside table, the dresser, chest of drawers, and even on all sides of bed on the floor. No phone.

Olivia wondered what was taking him so long to reply. She sent him another text  
 _Hellooooooooo? Are you napping? Guess what?_

Fitz stood still as he heard his phone alert him again. He saw a light in the middle of the bed, under the freshly washed sheets, and realized what he had done. He had set his phone on the mattress and made the bed up on top of it. He laughed to himself, pulled the neatly tucked edge of the flat sheet up on top of the mattress, and reached his long arm under the fitted sheet until he reached the phone. He pulled it out and sat on the bed to see what he had missed.  
 _The four of you are in jail?_

Olivia rolled her eyes  
 _Haha Try again_

Fitz smirked at the tiny screen.  
 _Unless you bought something lacy, I don't want to know. I'm kinda busy doing chores._

 _Actually, I did buy something lacy_

 _Chores can wait. I want a detailed description!_

 _I can't tell you_

 _What color is it?_

She smiled at his curiosity  
 _White_

 _Are you gonna put it on when you get home?_

 _No_

 _Why the hell not?_

 _You'll have to wait until next month to see it_

Olivia's phone began to ring. She saw his cute face on her screen as it continued ringing. Finally she answered it. "Hello?"

"You wanna tell me why I have to wait until next month to see what you've bought for me?" He asked.

"Because it's my wedding dress and you're not allowed to see it until then."

"Really? You found one? Bought it too?"

"Technically my mother bought it. She wouldn't let me pay for it. It's so beautiful, babe. You're gonna love it."

"That was sweet of her. We'll send her roses tomorrow to say thank you. I'm so excited you found one that you love. But you know I don't care about the dress. I just want to make you my wife. The rest is just icing on the cake."

Olivia smiled at his words. He was definitely getting laid tonight.

And then he kept talking.

"You need to buy something lacy that I CAN see today. It's only fair. Use the credit card and the less material the better."

"Your mother is here. Do you want to talk to her?" Olivia teased.

"You really know how to kill the mood, babe." His deep baritone dropped an octave and he added, "Go buy something according to my request or there will be consequences when you get here."

"Mmmmm. I might just come home empty handed on purpose then?"

"Try me, Miss Pope. You'll need all day tomorrow to recover. You're probably going to need that anyways. You've got your dress. Get your sexy ass home and bring the tiny lacy thing."

"I'll see what I can do. We're going to eat lunch and then I'll be home."

"When you get here I'm going to want my lunch!"

Olivia moaned a little louder than she intended. Fitz was grinning as he laid back on their bed. He hoped someone heard her. She looked around for anyone within ear shot. There behind her, four feet away, was Fitz's mother. Olivia had never felt more embarrassed in her entire life. "Your mother just heard me! I. Hate. You." She heard him laughing as she ended the call.

"Emma, would you like to see if you can find a veil that might go with my dress? I'd love it if you helped me choose a piece." Emma gave her a polite smile and wandered over to where the veils hung with Robin in tow. Olivia went to Tracey and asked if they had any lingerie in the store. Tracey nodded and led the way. Luckily it was nowhere near where Emma was busy looking at tulle.

Olivia did a quick search through what they had and grabbed a tiny something in her size. She figured he deserved a little treat for putting up with her stressing over the dress for the last several days. She snuck up to the register and paid for the overpriced scrap of white lace. She couldn't wait to put it on for him.

Her mother walked up to where she stood, as Tracey handed her the receipt and passed her the already bagged up item. "What did you end up buying, Liv?"

"Lingerie." She looked around for Emma and saw that she was several feet away with her back to them. "I couldn't buy it in front of his mother."

"I think he will like that item very much." Emma said from where she stood.

Olivia gasped and her eyes grew wide but she was frozen where she stood at the register. She chanted 'No No No' in her mind and was trying to figure out how in the hell that little woman had seen her? She had been so fast Olivia really didn't have any idea what she had actually even bought! But apparently Emma knew. She felt mortified, but turned around slowly and looked at her future mother in law.

Emma was smiling at her shocked expression. "Mothers have eyes in the back of their heads, dear."

Lila roared with laughter as her daughter put her head in her hands in utter embarrassment. She blamed Fitz.


	52. Christmas

Christmas

The week of Christmas was a busy one for everybody.

The employees and partners at the firm were trying to get their cases to a place where they could be left until New Year's was over. Charlotte was working overtime on the cake for Fitz and Olivia's wedding. The bakery was going to be closed on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve, and New Year's Day. Fitz was busy making the work schedule a few weeks in advance so he and Olivia could enjoy the first week of the new year on their honeymoon.

The bakery was a constant hub of activity with families coming in from out of the cold. They needed something hot to drink, a sugary treat to keep them going until they finished Christmas shopping, and somewhere to sit down for a few minutes. They had several orders for cakes for Christmas and New Years and the entire staff was putting in the extra effort to get everything done in a timely manner. Business was good.

Charlie and Quinn had decked the halls of their new home. They had three Christmas trees up and decorations in every room of the house. Quinn had bought Charlie a poker table complete with chips, cards, and a cute dealer visor for Christmas. She knew he would love it and would use it when the guys started playing regularly once again. Charlie had bought Quinn a tactical crossbow. He knew her old one was fine, but this one was a fantastic upgrade and had sniper like accuracy. Quinn liked her accuracy. She was going to freak the hell out when she opened it! They had been actively trying to get pregnant for a few months now, but hadn't had any luck yet. They were enjoying the practice though.

Stephen and Abby were enjoying their first Christmas season as a married couple. They had started giving each other little gifts every day starting on December first and looked forward to their time together every evening when they swapped gifts. Neck ties, jewelry, fuzzy socks, spa treatments, and shoes were just some of the gifts they had given each other. They had a small fake tree up in the living room, neither of them wanting the mess or fuss or a real tree. They were blissfully happy.

Thad and Robin had found a house not too far from where Fitz and Olivia lived. Thad had flown to New York to do the final walk through of the house and they were set to close on it the first week of January. It was perfect timing because the family would already be in New York for Fitz and Olivia's wedding. Both of them had been busy getting gifts for the girls to enjoy. The girls didn't really need anything, but Santa always brought the goods. The stress of selling their current house, closing on a new house, Christmas, traveling back and forth between states, as well as making sure the girls had dresses to wear in the wedding was quickly catching up to the young couple. They were looking forward to a relaxing few weeks with family.

Fitz and Olivia were enjoying the month of December and were eagerly looking forward to the last day of the month when they would become man and wife. They had put up a small, but real tree, in the living room and had thoroughly enjoyed decorating it together. Fitz popped popcorn in the microwave and Olivia strung it together like she had done to the tree she had in her bedroom every year when she was a girl.

They had discussed and agreed on starting their own traditions for Christmas. They would buy one special ornament and make one special ornament each year for their tree. Fitz came home one night with an silver ornament of two turtledoves he had gotten engraved with their wedding date on it. Olivia had cried when she opened it. Fitz had held her close. And that had led to sex right there in the living room beside the tree.

A few days later Olivia came home with a four pack of various colored Christmas balls, some paints, and a paintbrush. Fitz looked at the items laying on the table and asked what it was all for. "We're going to make our ornaments tonight. You and I can each do two. It'll be fun."

As the chili simmered, he sat at the table and asked for directions. "You are going to cover your thumb with paint and make snowmen on one of them and reindeer on the other one." She explained to him how to do it and he caught on quickly. Olivia used her thumbprint to make a Christmas tree on one of hers and elves on the other one. They worked on the balls for almost an hour, both of them adding flair to their festive creations. After dinner they added the four newly decorated balls to the tree.

"Liv? There's a large clear ball left in the bag." Fitz said from the kitchen.

"Oh! I almost forgot about that one." She walked to her purse and pulled out her wallet. Inside one of the many compartments were the WILL YOU MARRY ME tickets from the proposal. She brought them to the table, took the lid off of the ball and set it down. She covered the paintbrush with craft glue and covered the inside of the ball with it. One by one she stuck the tickets to the inside wall of the decoration. She sprinkled a little silver glitter inside and swirled it around inside. After she shook out the excess, she put the lid back on it and showed it to him.

Fitz held the now beautifully decorated ball in his hand where the four red tickets looked back at him in their correct order. "This is perfect. You are a creative genius."

She wrapped her arms around his neck and pecked his lips once. "I know."

Since that night Fitz, Thad, Charlie, and Rob had gone to try on their tuxes. Thad would serve as the best man, Charlie would be the groomsman, and Rob would serve as an usher. Fitz and Olivia had decided on black tuxedos with white shirts and silk navy and gold ties and pocket squares. Of course Fitz had sent her photos of himself in various states of dress. He looked so handsome that it made her anxious to see him standing at the alter waiting for her.

Olivia had gone back to the salon to try on her dress after she had purchased her wedding shoes. She had purposefully bought heels high enough that the dress wouldn't need to be hemmed. She picked up the dress and took it to Abby and Stephen's house for safe keeping. Everything was coming together nicely. It was all just a waiting game now.

To relive some of the stress of waiting for the wedding day to arrive, and because it needed to be done, Fitz and Olivia bundled up and went shopping together a few days before Christmas. Olivia had always been one to shop from her list for the few people she had to buy for. Fitz was more of the mindset of wait until closer to Christmas and get the gifts cheaper. It could be a problem.

"Fitz," Olivia said in the car as they drove to the first store. "You can't just go into a random store and expect to find Christmas gifts. It doesn't work like that."

Fitz chuckled at her. "Actually, it does work like that. You see all of these people on the roads? They are out buying stuff for other people."

"What I mean is, you have to have a plan. A list. You have to know what you want to get and plan accordingly."

"Plan accordingly? Liv. You need more spontaneity in your life. I'm not saying your way isn't...fun. But this way is fun too. Besides, you still have your list, right? We aren't flying completely blind. Trust me."

Olivia thought this was an asinine idea. She glanced at him from the corner of her eye and noticed that he was watching the road intently. She quickly stuck out her tongue in his direction and just as quickly pulled it back into her mouth. Then she made a face at him.

"You know," Fitz casually said. "I can think of much more interesting uses for your tongue if you're running out of ideas?"

He never missed anything. "Fine. Let's go home and you can tell me what they are. And when you're passed out later on I can finish up the Christmas shopping online. Like normal people."

"You're cute, future wife." He pulled into a parking spot at the local mall and turned off the car. He turned in his seat to face her and said, "How about you lean over here and give me a sample of that tongue of yours and then we'll go shopping?"

She sighed heavily, but complied with his request and they steamed up the chilly windows of the car for a few minutes in the process. "Please promise me we won't end up buying anything ridiculous?"

Fitz played with a strand of her hair and gave her his lopsided smile. "You know I can't promise that. Come on! It'll be great!" He grabbed the keys and jumped out of the car and walked to her side, opening the door for her. He reached out his hand and she took it as they trudged into the craziness with the other late shoppers.

"Let's start off with an easy one. My parents." He offered.

Olivia dropped his hand and stopped walking. "What? Are you crazy? That is not an easy one!"

Fitz looked back at her and grinned mischievously. "Sure it is. They have everything and there's nothing they need or want. So we keep it playful." He took her hand and led her into Spencer's.

At the doorway into the store Olivia stopped walking once again. Her eyes went wide and she chuckled humorlessly at him ."Fitz!" She hissed. "We are NOT buying your parents a Christmas present from Spencer's!"

"Why not?" He asked with a smirk. "I'd bet they would appreciate a fun gift."

Olivia glanced around them, looking for a lifeline or to be inspired by a sign or sale somewhere. Something! And then she saw it. She whispered a quiet thank you and pulled her deranged fiancé away from the twisted store where teenagers poured in and out the door. "I have a better idea."

"Where are we going?" He whined halfheartedly. The look on her face had been priceless. He would remember that, and maybe share it with the family during the gift exchange process.

She pulled him toward a store a few doors down and across from where they had been. Olivia stood in front of the window, threw out her hands, and said, "Ta Da!"

Fitz looked from her face to the window of the store. "The ceramic dog?" He pretended to think it over. "My dad might appreciate it? My mother will be glad it's not real."

"What? No!" She looked into the window and pointed to the item. "Not the dog. The sofa. Fitz! It looks like the one in Titanic. You could replace the one you...had sex on and broke!" She whispered.

"Uhhhh. Where would she put it though? Their house is full of furniture. I don't know about..."

"If you buy it I'll let you draw me naked on it before we give it to them." She tried.

"Done!" He grabbed her hand and pulled her inside the store and towards the register with the mischievous grin back on his face. "I like impulsive shopper Olivia." He paid for the couch and requested next day delivery. He wasn't missing out on her offer. They walked out of the store and Fitz asked, "Whose next on our list?"

Olivia giggled. It was kind of fun to be spontaneous. Why not try it again? "My parents. You want to go look at Spencer's now?"

A look of pure fear crossed his face. "Hell no! Your father would kill me." Olivia chuckled and put her arm around him. He looked all around them and saw a kiosk not too far away. Realizing what it was, he grinned and told her, "I see what we're gonna do."

"Oh boy," she said following him.

The man working the kiosk was busy talking to another person. He gave the customer a pamphlet and told of fantastic luxurious getaway locations and what were included in them. After rattling off his shpiel, the customer walked off and put the pamphlet into his pocket. The man turned his attention on  
Fitz and Olivia. "Thinking of getting away for a vacation somewhere warm during the winter?" He asked in a friendly tone. He eyed Olivia up and down and it didn't go unnoticed by Fitz.

Fitz put his arm around Olivia possessively and said in an equally friendly tone, "We'll be plenty warm enough on our honeymoon in ten days. Thanks. But we are looking for somewhere to send our parents on a cruise together. What kind of packages do you have?"

"Congratulations on your upcoming nuptials! " The man beamed. He quickly thought of an expensive package. "We have a cruise package for Alaska that's all inclusive and you can..."

"I was thinking of somewhere a little more tropical?" Fitz interrupted.

"Of course," he agreed. "Well, we have an all-inclusive package for the Bahamas? The package includes airfare to Melbourne International Airport in Florida, rental car, hotel stay, the cruise itself, and the flight back to New York. Is that something you might be interested in?"

Olivia pulled Fitz aside and said, "You just bought your mother a sofa. There's no need to spend a crazy amount of money on a cruise for the four of them."

Fitz grinned at her. "You know that sofa isn't going to make it to my mother's house. We'll end up breaking it ourselves or it will be too...how do I say this delicately? Too fucked up for me to actually give it to my mother."

Olivia giggled at him and said, "Why don't you go back to the store and tell them you've changed your mind and get a refund?"

"The minute you mentioned the drawing thing, it became ours. It's called being spontaneous, Liv. Admit it. You are enjoying yourself buying things at the last minute. Besides, they are our parents. They deserve a vacation. And the four of them like each other and enjoy spending time together. Our mothers will ditch our dads when they want to and drag them to a fancy dinner when they want to. They'll love it." He grinned and pecked her lips. He turned back to the man standing beside the kiosk and said, "We'll take the all-inclusive package for four adults to the Bahamas."

"Great! How do you wish to pay?" He asked greedily. The details were gone over once again, in more detail and Fitz pulled out his credit card and paid for the gift. Once the paperwork was completed, Fitz pocketed the vouchers, said thank you, and walked away from the kiosk.

"Whose next, babe?" Fitz asked cheerily.

"Are you up for a challenge?" She asked.

"Pffff. Bring it on, woman." He said confidently.

"Fine. Cyrus, James, and Ella are next. Whatcha got in mind for them?" She watched the gears in his head work as he gazed around the brightly lit and festively decorated mall. This should be good, she thought to herself.

They walked around for a few minutes and suddenly Fitz stopped walking. A huge grin came across his face as he zeroed in on his target. Olivia followed him into a jewelry store wondering what exactly he had in mind. He looked through the display cases until he stopped at one on the end. Olivia looked down through the glass case with a look of confusion at the same time a saleswoman appeared. "Can I show you something in particular?"

"I'd like to see that piece please," he said pointing from the top of the glass. "The gold one." Olivia watched in amazement as the saleswoman pulled out a tiny gold bracelet. Fitz turned it over to look at it. He held it up to show Olivia and asked, "Can you engrave it here?"

"Of course, sir. What would you like on it?" She asked with a pleasant smile.

"Ella Bella," he said with a straight face.

The saleswoman looked at Olivia, who shrugged at her. "He's a proud uncle" she explained.

"Ok. I'm going to get you to write that down so I don't misspell it. It'll only take a few minutes to do in the back. How would you like to pay?" Fitz wrote the two words on a piece of paper she had given him and then handed over his credit card as the saleswoman scurried away.

"That's it? That's what you're buying the three of them? You were doing so well too."

"No, smartass. This isn't it. I figure Cyrus is the brains behind us getting together in the first place, so we should get him and James something they need and want. So this time I will need you to use your obsessive planning skills on the world wide web to buy them a spa package. They can only use it if we get to babysit though. I'm gonna be firm on that!"

"That's a great idea! You're cute when you're firm," she flirted.

"I know," he said simply. "I like the fact that I picked out her first piece of jewelry." They waited until the saleswoman brought the bracelet back for him to inspect the engraving. "It's beautiful. Thank you very much." She placed it into the box and then into a giftbag and the happy couple were back into the crowds looking for more gifts. "Who's next? I am on a roll!"

"Thad and Robin and the girls. Stephen and Abby. Yvonne and Jason. Charlie and Quinn. And Rob. And then we will be done!" She said excitedly.

Fitz thought for a moment in the middle of the walkway. They were getting annoyed looks from the other people at the mall for having to walk around them. Olivia pulled him towards the railing so they wouldn't be in the way of other shoppers. While he was plotting, she looked down over the railing. Santa was at the mall and there was a line a mile long with eager parents waiting to set their child on his lap for a picture. She saw a little family of three not far from the big guy in red and she watched them. The dad was holding the little girl in his arms and pointing out the brightly colored decorations. They both had huge smiles on their faces and Olivia found herself smiling with them. The mom was pushing the stroller which was filled up with different colored bags and had her arm around the dad's waist. The three of were the picture of contentment. Olivia continued watching them and felt envious.

"What do you think?" Fitz called. "Liv?" He said a little louder.

She snapped her head back to him. "Huh? What?"

"I asked what you thought about the gift idea for the girls?"

She smiled at him. "I'm sorry. I wasn't paying attention to you. I was people watching. What are your ideas for finishing this up so we can go home and get cozy together?"

He pulled her into his arms and kissed her temple. "Let's find something for the three girls with ladybugs on them."

"I love that idea! And so will they. What about the adults?" She asked.

"Let's just see what we see. Maybe we'll find something on the way to the kids' stuff?" He said sounding hopeful.

"Good plan. I want some Starbucks before we leave though."

"You're gonna break my wallet, woman." He chuckled. They ended up finding the girls quite a bit of lady bug stuff. Shirts, hair bows, backpacks, earrings, and a bunch of other cute stuff they just couldn't say no to. Olivia discovered buying kid stuff was so much fun.

They found another kiosk near the exit that sold personalized family name signs. They looked at the signs that were on display and Olivia thought they looked nice and had the personal touch they were looking for. She spoke to the teenaged girl working there and asked about pricing and when it would be done for pick up or delivery. The teenager answered her questions and they were exactly what Olivia and Fitz were hoping for. They ordered one each for Stephen and Abby, Charlie and Quinn, and Thad and Robin. That just left Yvonne, Jayson, and Rob. Their list was a lot more manageable that it had been when they arrived. Olivia offered to look online for last minute gifts for them and Fitz agreed. They had accomplished a lot on their outing and he was ready to go home.

Christmas Day was another eye opener for Olivia too. But in the very best way. Instead of both families getting together like they did at Thanksgiving, the Grants and the Popes wanted to have their own Christmas celebrations and not impose on the other families traditions. Since it was just the two of them, Olivia and Fitz decided they would visit both sets of parents on Christmas Day so no one got their feelings hurt. They went to the Pope house around one o'clock. It was after lunch but Lila insisted they have pie and coffee while they opened gifts.

After visiting for a while and catching up on all things wedding related, everyone had their mugs filled with coffee and a healthy slice of unhealthy pie on their plate, the four of them started exchanging gifts.  
Lila and Nathaniel handed Fitz and Olivia each a small gift wrapped box. Olivia opened hers and let out a squeal. She jumped up from her seat on the couch and wrapped her arms around her father's neck, followed by her mother's. "Thank you! These are the earrings I wanted to wear on my wedding day. I can't believe you guys bought them! Thank you so much!"

Nathaniel chuckled at his daughter's reaction. "You're welcome, Munchkin. I can't have my baby walking down the aisle and not looking exactly how she wants to look." Lila shook her head at the two of them.

Olivia came back to the couch and encouraged Fitz to open his gift. He ripped the paper back and opened the box to see a pair of cufflinks with gold G's on them. Fitz looked up and gave his future in laws a genuine smile. "These are amazing! Thank you so much!"

"What did you get?" Olivia asked. Fitz held up his gift and showed them to her. "Those are nice! Great choice you two. You can wear those for the wedding, babe."

"Great idea." Fitz got up and hugged Olivia's parents and thanked them again. "We have something for both of you too. But it's a gift you have to share with my parents and I hope that's ok?"

"Ohmygod! You're pregnant!" Lila shouted.

"Wow. No, mom. I'm not pregnant." Olivia chuckled.

"Oh." Lila said deflated. "What is it then?"

Fitz stood up and handed Nathaniel an envelope. He opened it up and broke out into a huge grin. "This is fantastic! And we get to share this with your parents? Really?"

"What is it?" Lila asked. When her husband handed the envelope to his wife, he stood up and gave the young couple a hug. "Thank you. That is going to be so much fun!"

Behind them Lila screamed. Loudly. "Ohmygodnoyoudidnot!" Fitz laughed at her reaction, pleased that he had chosen something they were obviously happy about. Lila hugged Fitz and Olivia at the same time. "This is going to be amazing! Thank you thank you thank you!"

"You're welcome, momma." Olivia said smiling. She looked at Fitz who flicked something invisible off his shoulder. She rolled her eyes at him playfully and walked into his arms. "Ok, I'll admit it. That was a great idea."

"Can I call Emma so we can talk about it now?" Lila asked excitedly.

"Uhhh, we haven't been by there yet to give them their vouchers. You'll know when she does because she will most likely be on the phone with you before she says thank you." Fitz chuckled.

"We're gonna have to go shopping for new clothes for our trip." She preened.

"Woman!" Nathaniel started. "You have more clothes than the Queen of England."

"What's your point?" She asked with her hand on her hip.

"Nothing, dear." He muttered.

"MmmmmHmmmm. That's what I thought." She turned back to Olivia and Fitz and asked, "How long are the two of you staying?"

"We are heading over to Fitz's parent's house in a few minutes. Expect a phone call in about an hour." She joked. "Thank you for my earrings. I absolutely love them!"

"The more things I see for the wedding the more anxious I get." Fitz admitted. "It won't be long now though. Thank you both for the cufflinks. They are going to be a great addition to my tux. We love you both." Olivia and Fitz put their coats back on, the four of them exchanged hugs, and the happy couple got in their car and drove to the Grant house.

Things were in full swing by the time they got there. The girls clamored all over Olivia and Fitz when they saw the ladybug wrapping paper on so many gifts. "Are all of those for us?" Elizabeth asked.

Fitz squatted down on her level and looked around the living room. "I guess so? I only have three ladybugs, right?" She happily kissed his cheek, squealed loudly, and called Megan into the room as they watched their uncle put the gifts under the Christmas tree.

Olivia and Fitz hugged everyone warmly and once again took off their coats and hung them up. "Would the two of you like some coffee or cocoa?" Robin asked. Her belly was getting a little bigger and it was completely adorable in Olivia's eyes. The two of them disappeared into the kitchen for something warm to drink, leaving the men and kids in the living room. "So? Did Fitz like the nightie you bought?"

"We are not talking about that in his mother's house." Olivia chuckled.

"Why not? It's not like she didn't see it!" Robin laughed.

"Nope. Not talking about it. But he...Hi, Emma." Olivia hugged Fitz's mother and clamped her mouth closed.

"It's so good to have the two of you here today. How are your parents, dear?" Emma asked politely.

"They are great, thanks. Oh! I've got to show you what they got me for the wedding!" She showed them the earrings and the three women eyed them appreciatively.

"Those are gorgeous, Liv!" Robin exclaimed. "The wedding is so close. It won't be long now."

"It's still too far away in my opinion," Olivia said smiling.

"Well, since we've all eaten, shall we go open gifts now? I know the girls are excited and they've been patient long enough. Emma suggested.

The girls loved all of the items that Fitz and Olivia had bought for them. They especially loved the signs for their new bedroom with their names and lady bugs on them. Thad and Robin were looking forward to hanging the personalized sign on the front of their new house as soon as they moved in. The Grant's gave Olivia and Fitz each time at a high end salon to get pampered for the wedding. Robin and Thad gave them picture frames of various sizes to hold wedding photos.

Before Olivia handed the envelope containing their travel vouchers to Emma she explained that she and Thomas would have to share the gift with her parents. When Emma opened it and screamed, everyone thought she had witnessed a murder. She had happy tears rolling down her cheek and hugged Olivia tight and thanked her for being so thoughtful. As soon as Emma released Olivia she picked up her phone and called Lila. The two could be heard squealing and plotting. Fitz knew he was a gift giving genius. He didn't need to be told.

Hours later, back at home, Olivia and Fitz walked through the front door and Olivia continued on to their bedroom with every intention of going to bed. It had been a long day and she wanted to sleep like the dead. Behind her, Fitz stopped at the Christmas tree and peered down. "Looks like Santa was here while we were gone." He said to her retreating back.

Olivia stopped walking and came back to where Fitz stood. There were two wrapped gifts under the tree; one for each of them. They looked at each other with questioning eyes. "What have you done?" She asked.

"I was with you the entire day." He exclaimed.

"We both know you have a red headed elf on the payroll." She sassed with a smile.

"It seems she is a double agent now?" He mused. "Look. I know you are anxious to get me into bed so you can have your way with me, so let's get these gifts open and get on with it."

Olivia shot him a look. "Let's see what it is first, Mister."

Fitz grinned, said "yes ma'am," and passed her the small rectangular box. He watched not so patiently as she carefully peeled the tape back and tried not to rip the pretty paper. On the inside he was willing her to rip it open haphazardly but she continued taking her time.

Olivia had a feeling she was about to open jewelry based on the shape and size of the box and she was giddy with excitement. She pulled the lid of the box back expecting to see something dazzling and sparkly, but just saw papers. With a knit brow, she reached into the box and pulled them out. Realization hit fast. Fitz had bought them tickets to Aruba. Her head snapped up to his face and she asked, "When do we leave?"

Still grinning, Fitz said "It's where we are honeymooning at. I hope it's..." That was all he got out because Olivia crashed her lips onto his in a happy kiss. When she pulled back and he could breathe again he added, "All you'll need is a bathing suit."

Those familiar words of his caused her to smile at him. "This is amazing. Thank you." She pecked his lips once more. "Your gift probably isn't as good as this one. I hope you'll be patient with me as I learn how to be as great a gift giver as you are?"

He smiled smugly at her. At least she knew who the best was. It was something. "I'm sure it's fine. Thank you in advance." He picked up the similarly shaped box and ripped open the paper, making a show of how to properly open a gift. He pulled back the lid just as she had done and also saw that there was paper inside. Folded papers. He pulled them out and began reading what was printed. His face paled. His hands began to shake. Sweat beaded on his forehead. Disbelief set in quickly. "How? How d-did you? When?"

Olivia patted his cheek. "It's all thanks to the world wide web. It comes in real handy. You might want to remember that? Something else to remember? I give just as good as I get. Nite, babe." She winked at him and went to bed.

Fitz was left holding the papers in his hands and had been rendered completely mute. He looked back down at the words that were swimming in front of him and re-read them to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. He was invited to spend a day of fun at Charm City Cakes working alongside Duff Goldman. Fitz was going to be decorating cakes with his idol later next month. Olivia really did give as good as she got. He'd never gloat about his gift giving skills again. He had met his match in every way.


	53. It'll Have To Do

_Deep breath everyone..._

It'll Have To Do

Fitz squinted his bleary eyes and cursed the light that was pouring in from the window across the room. It was too damn bright. He opened his eyes and reached over for Olivia, but his hand was met with cold sheets. When he realized that he was in his old guest room at Charlie and Quinn's place he cursed and closed his eyes again. He wondered how he had gotten here? And why wasn't she here with him? He immediately sat up in the full bed and grinned to himself. His head was pounding but it didn't matter. He was getting married to Olivia today!

He vaguely remembered the festivities from the previous day. They had the rehearsal at the church earlier that afternoon. It had gone perfectly smooth. No problems or hiccups. The pastor, an elderly man, was very helpful and patient with Fitz and Olivia as he led them through the ceremony and explained everything to them. His wife was very sweet and kind and showed everyone in the wedding where to stand during the ceremony and when and where to move. She was completely enchanted with Elizabeth and Megan as the flower girls and showed them how a princess walks down the aisle and how important dropping the rose petals is so the bride feels special. The girls took their job very seriously and listened to every word the kind woman told them.

Nana and Pops took the girls away from the church with the promise of Chuck E. Cheese for dinner. The adults in the wedding party had left the church to get dinner of their own together. Fitz had made reservations at a Mexican restaurant and that's where the beer and margaritas had begun to flow freely. The wedding party had been met there by Quinn, Robin, Stephen, and Jason, who had done a little decorating to the small room the group was currently enjoying themselves in. Condoms of every color had been sprinkled all over the table and a few had been blown up and tied off like balloons. Olivia and Fitz smiled at each other knowingly over the table. No one but them knew that they were done with birth control until a little Grant was produced. But they took the horseplay with humor and congratulated their friends on a job well done.

The men and women were supposed to separate themselves, each gender enjoying their own variation of the 'last night single' ritual, but no one ever made the move to part ways. So they all stuck together throughout the entire evening and celebrated as one unified crazy group.

After their meal, Stephen called for a party bus to pick them up and the large group headed into the city for more insanity. The first stop was the bowling alley, as suggested by Rob. Fitz was thankful for his friend's idea because he was feeling pretty confident that, in her impaired state, he could finally kick Olivia's ass at the game. She sat on his lap in their seat on the bus and boldly professed that she fully intended to beat her fiancé. He gave her his lop sided grin and asked "Would you like to make a bet on it, Miss Pope?"

Olivia scrunched up her face. "I don't want you to call me that. You're supposed to call me future wife." She looked around the bus and sloppily said, "You guys! It's so cute when he says future wife."

Abby chuckled at her fading friend. "Liv, I don't think you should take that bet. In your...state of mind."

"Stephen, kiss your wife," Fitz said as he continued smiling at Olivia.

"What? Why?" Stephen sputtered.

"So she'll quit talking." Fitz said sarcastically. "Liv knows when she can handle a bet and when she can't. Don't you, babe?"

"Yuppers," she said touching his nose. She stared into his eyes and said, "You're pretty."

Fitz chuckled at her. She was so damn adorable. Slightly inebriated, but adorable nonetheless. "You're gonna marry me tomorrow." He said grinning at her.

"I gotta marry someone. It might as well be you," she said grinning back. "Do you want me to throw the game when we get there? Cause I will!" She not too quietly whispered as everyone laughed.

Fitz chuckled at her and pretended to think about it. "You are so good to me, future wife." He leaned close to her face and smiled when she met him halfway. The smile faded the instant their lips met in a hungry kiss. Hoots could be heard throughout the bus and it made them break apart and laugh. "I think I can handle you though."

"I like it when you handle me." She said in a low tone, feeling very frisky.

"Mmmmm," he growled. "Play your cards right and I'll tuck you into bed and handle every inch of your body after we ditch these weirdos." He grabbed a handful of her ass and attacked her mouth again. She moaned into his mouth and the weirdos balled up their napkins and threw them at nauseating couple.

The happy group stumbled into the bowling alley and played for an hour while drinking beer. No game had ever seen more gutter balls rolled or heard more laughter and teasing because of it. The shocking winner was Abby and she made the most of her victory by carelessly dancing and pointing in everyone's face with a huge grin plastered on her face.

After the bowling escapade, the drunk cackling bunch loaded back into the bus without a clear idea of where to go next. Suggestions were thrown out from almost everyone but they couldn't agree on any one of them. Until Quinn gave her idea. "Let's go to that place in the city where you can climb the rock wall. When we're done we can play laser tag! They have both in the same place. I've been there before."

Everyone looked around the bus at each other and heads nodded in agreement. "Hell yea!" Jason shouted. "That sounds like a lot of fun to me!" They all voiced their excitement and Quinn gave the driver the address.

Upon entering the huge adult playground, everyone in the group was given a waiver to fill out. They helped each other fill out the forms and turned them in with giggles. They all agreed that laser tag would be the safer option to start off with since they were still feeling the effects of the alcohol they had consumed. They each got a vest that they slipped on over their heads and fastened just above their hip. And a plastic gun. The group eyed each other silently, choosing who their first victim would be.

A good looking guy named Chandler, appearing to be in his late teens stood in front of the group, introduced himself, and gave them the run through of how to operate their guns and how to play the game. "You all will be the only ones in the arena so you don't have to watch out for other people. It's gonna be pretty dark once you're inside so watch your step. And last but not least, when you're hit, you're out."

"Babe? Will you protect me in there?" Olivia asked sweetly.

"No way!" Fitz said as he watched her eyebrows go skyward. "It's every man for himself."

"Fine! You're the first one I am going to shoot," she said with a smirk.

Fitz pecked Olivia's lips and gave her a smirk of his own. "You'll have to find me first."

Side eyes, cutting throat actions, and pointing fingers were shared among the buzzed adults. Everyone wanted to take down someone and they were anxious to get started. Chandler led them to the opening of the arena and told them "You have thirty seconds to get settled somewhere. When the alarm goes off the game starts. Last person standing is the winner. Good luck!"

They poured into the dimly lit arena and quickly took in their surroundings. There were walls, and steps, and foam covered bumpers everywhere in the huge room. They scurried like roaches in sunlight looking for a hiding place away from the others. Rob stumbled up the steps and headed for a corner of the room, but found Stephen squatted there already. "Beat it" was all the British man said before Rob was off looking for another place.

The alarm went off entirely too fast for everyone's liking but they each held their position until one of them made the first move. Time slowed down, but everyone's breathing was nervous and quiet as they squinted through the darkness searching for someone to shoot their red beam at. Naturally Quinn was the first one to show herself to the others. After that, it was a blur of red beams and loud laughter as they all tried to take each other out of the game.

Abby, Rob, Yvonne, Charlie, Stephen, and Robin had all been taken out of the game over the course of thirty minutes. Abby and Stephen were making out on the sidelines of the dark room while the others cheered on the person they most wanted to win out of the five that remained in play. It was uncontrolled loud chaos.

A few minutes later Jason joined the group on the sidelines, leaving Fitz, Olivia, Thad, and Quinn still in the game. It got even more intense. Quinn aimed for Olivia but Thad shot his laser beam at her faster and she was out. And she was pissed about it too. Quinn shouted profanities at the younger Grant brother as she stomped over to where Charlie waited to comfort her. Rob grinned into the darkness, thankful that her wrath was pointed in someone else's direction other than his.

The three that remained stayed well-hidden for quite a while in complete silence. Until Thad peeked up over the wall he was hidden behind, in hopes of catching a glimpse of the other two players. He saw Olivia looking around wildly and decided to make his move to take her out of play, leaving him and his brother in an ultimate match. He crept on his belly until he got closer to where Olivia was still hiding. Thad heard her whispering Fitz's name repeatedly and he decided to make his move. He jumped up, aimed at her chest, and pulled the trigger of his plastic gun. Olivia's chest lit up with a red light signaling she had been hit.

She looked down at it and then looked up and around for the perpetrator, finding Thad's grinning victorious face. "Bye, Liv." Thad said gleefully. He watched as she shot him the bird and started walking away from him and towards the other sideline sitters. He was so preoccupied with his win that he didn't notice Fitz until he stood right beside him. Thad pulled up his gun to shoot his brother but Fitz grinned at him and pointed at his chest. Thad looked down and noticed his own chest was blinking red. "How in the hell...?"

"You took out my girl. That was a bad decision, little brother. I win." Fitz sauntered over to where Olivia had watched their exchange.

She happily threw her arms around his neck and gave him a very heated winners kiss. When she finally pulled away from him she said, "My sexy hero." The others made gagging noises beside them. Fitz brought his toy gun up, rested it on his shoulder, and put his arm around Olivia. They walked out into the well-lit lobby and everyone took off their gear.

The grumbling bunch made their way over to the rock wall, where again, they were given instructions as well as strapped into harnesses. They were spread out across the vast wall and of course the men made it their mission to turn the fun event into a competition. The women rolled their eyes at them and took their time climbing up the rock wall, encouraging each other. Charlie ended up scaling the wall faster than anyone and he rang the bell loudly at the top before descending quickly back to the floor. The other men couldn't shout profanities because there were several kids climbing but hate filled looks were shot Charlie's way. Quinn was the first of the women to make it to the top. She knew they weren't racing, but her competitive side came out at the last minute and she wanted a victory after the laser tag game.

Once everyone was back on the floor and their buzz from the alcohol was just about gone, the group turned in their harnesses and went outside to get back on the bus. Yvonne suggested that they go back to their cars and decide what to do from there. Everyone agreed, knowing they would need them for the big day tomorrow. Back at the Mexican restaurant, Abby declared that the women would go to her house and would see the men at the church the following day. The men decided they would go to Quinn and Charlie's house for the night. All of the couples kissed their significant others goodbye and headed for their destinations.

The women headed straight for the house with no stops.

The men headed straight for the liquor store to load up for a long night of playing poker.

Fitz sat on the edge of the bed in the guest room, the smile still on his face. He got up and emptied his bladder before going into the kitchen. He found Stephen sitting on a bar stool sipping black coffee and looking like hell. "Did your baby bladder wake you up?" Fitz asked.

"Why do you insist on yelling at me after a night of drinking, mate?" Stephen whined.

"I'm getting married today! Get some Tylenol down your throat and make me some damn breakfast. It'll be just like your wedding day. Mate." Fitz said smiling.

Stephen held his head in his hands. "You get the pain reliever and I'll go look for breakfast shit. God, I hate you right now."

Fitz smiled victoriously and went into the bathroom cabinet to find the medicine. He found birth control, Tums, a jar of Vaseline, and a few bandages, but no Tylenol. He remembered that there were only guys here so he made himself at home and walked into the master bedroom to get to the master bathroom in search of the medicine everyone was bound to need sooner or later.

"What the hell is he doing in here?" Quinn asked.

Fitz froze where he stood and felt mortally embarrassed for walking in on Quinn and Charlie. He whispered up a thankful prayer that he hadn't seen anything at all and turned to walk out the door. "Fitzy? Where the hell are you goin'?" Charlie asked conversationally.

Fitz had his hand on the doorknob and was about to turn it to escape when Quinn said, "Shut up, Charlie. Don't make conversation right now!"

"Yea, I'm gonna go. I didn't mean to interrupt. Sorry guys." Fitz said.

"It's no problem. The wife is ovulating, so we are taking advantage of..."

"Ok. Bye." Fitz opened the door and slammed it shut behind him as he sprinted back to the kitchen.

Rob handed out the pain reliever as Stephen cooked a little bit of everything. Fitz had told the rest of the guys about what he had walked in on and everyone gave them a hard time when they eventually showed their faces. "What is it with you guys screwing the morning of a wedding? IF anyone should be getting laid it should be me." Fitz exclaimed.

"You'll get yours tonight." Thad proclaimed. "I still can't believe you're getting married."

"Right?" Rob agreed. "We all thought you'd be the eternal bachelor."

"It's true, Fitzy. None of us thought you would ever settle down. It's nice to see you've found the perfect girl though." Charlie said.

Jason poured everyone some orange juice and Stephen lifted his glass in front of the others. "To Olivia. For making an honest man out of Fitz."

"TO OLIVIA" the room said followed by chuckles.

Over at Abby's house the women were just waking up from a restful night. They had gotten into their pajamas and talked for an hour or so before going to bed the night before. They all took showers and had coffee while they waited for each other to get ready. Robin made a phone call to Emma explaining that she would pick the girls up after breakfast. Abby called Stephen and explained that she had left a bottle of Tylenol in his car. Yvonne called Jason just to hear his voice. No one knew where Quinn was, but they knew she could take care of herself, so they didn't worry. Olivia sent Fitz a text.  
 _I can't wait to see you_

Fitz replied almost instantly.  
 _I can't wait to give you my last name_

Olivia smiled  
 _I love you_

'To Olivia'. The words his friend said came back to his mind and made him sentimental.  
 _For the very last time...I love you Miss Pope_

Olivia sighed contentedly before she was rounded up by Abby and quickly ushered outside with the other women to go to breakfast. After breakfast it was mani/pedis followed by hair appointments. Olivia, Abby, and Yvonne were first in line so they could leave when they were done to go back to Abby's house to get their dresses and head to the church. The other women were hugged goodbye and the three friends headed back out.

Once the dresses were loaded into Abby's car it was time to go to the church. Before they left, the three women were making a last sweep of the house to make sure nothing had been forgotten or left behind. Abby and Yvonne brought Olivia into the kitchen and sat down with her at the table. "Look. Things are about to get crazy busy. You're going to have people coming in and out of that room once you're in there. And we'll be trying to keep you entertained so you don't go looking for him."

"Him?" Olivia asked innocently.

Abby shot her a look. "Yea. Him. Fitz. I know the two of you can't stay away from each other for very long. But you are not going to see him until you walk down the aisle, even if it kills me. Anyways, before things get crazy, Yvonne and I chipped in together and got you your something blue."

Yvonne passed Olivia a small box wrapped in petty white paper. "You guys shouldn't have done that."

"Shut up and open it," Yvonne said.

Olivia peeled back the paper carefully as she was prone to and lifted the lid to the box. Inside was a gold charm bracelet with one charm laying inside the circle and unattached. Olivia lifted it out of the box to look at it more closely. The charm was a navy blue ball with today's date stamped on it as well as F & O. It had a gold loop at the top of the charm and Abby explained that it could be attached to her bridal bouquet with a piece of ribbon. "After the wedding you can attach it to the bracelet. We just thought it would be something pretty and different."

"Because you are pretty and different." Yvonne added.

"Please don't make me cry." Olivia said, holding the charm close to her chest. "It's beautiful. And so perfect. I love it. I love both of you. Thank you so much."

Abby shook her head at her friend, stood up, and asked, "Where in the hell is the ribbon? Stephen is always moving stuff around." A few minutes later she found it and snipped a piece off, putting it in her pocket to add to Liv's bouquet at the church. "Let's go get you married, Liv." Olivia chuckled while sniffing to keep the tears back and stood up to hug her friends.

At the church the three women found the bridal room and got themselves settled there. Dresses were hung up, cosmetics were in the bathroom for touch ups that might be needed before the ceremony, and bouquets and shoes were lined up ready to be used as pretty props.

The photographer showed up an hour before the ceremony started and introduced herself to Olivia and the girls. Her name was Lisa and she had a bag full of camera equipment in her hand. She asked if it was alright for her to take photos of Olivia getting ready later on and Olivia agreed. Lisa said she was going to walk around the church grounds to get a better idea of where she wanted to take pictures after the ceremony.

Lila made an appearance in the bridal room a short while later and hugged her daughter tightly. "I can't believe my baby is getting married today."

Olivia smiled at her mother and Abby cleared her throat. "Mrs. Pope? There is no crying before the ceremony. Liv's make-up is done as well as yours. And we don't want it to be ruined. So...this is a cry free zone. Respectfully."

Lila smiled at Abby. "I've always liked you, Abby. You have a great back bone that probably serves you well in the courtroom. I appreciate your friendship with Olivia. You've been there for her through so many things over the years. You are a good person. But if I want to cry, I'm gonna cry. If you think you can stop me, well, I'd love to see you try."

Abby closed her mouth and walked out into the hall to give her friend and her mother some privacy. Maybe she'd throttle back on the tear warnings? Fifteen minutes later, Abby heard loud laughter coming from the other side of the door. She smiled in response even though she had no idea what they were laughing about.

While she stood in the hall, the men came her way. Abby grinned at Fitz and he hugged her neck affectionately. "How's she doing, SuperGirl?" He asked nervously.

"She's great. Her mom is in there with her." Abby replied. "How are you? Are you ready for this?"

"I've been waiting a long time for her, Abs. It can't get here fast enough. Can you give her a few things for me please?" He asked. When Abby nodded her head, Fitz handed her a penny. "It was the oldest one in the register at the bakery. I figure it's a traditional gift now. And it happens to be the same year my parents got married. I thought that was significant." Abby held the penny in her hand and Fitz said," And give her this." He hugged her warmly and grinned at her.

"I swear, if this makes her cry I will personally kick your ass, Fitz!"

"This isn't the bowling alley, Abby. And you don't scare me." He said with a grin and a wink. "Take care of my girl until she gets to the alter. I've got it from there."

"I can do that. If you need anything text me and I'll take care of it. We don't need a stressed out groom today."

"I just need that little, beautiful, crazy, everything-to-me woman to be my wife. The rest doesn't matter. But thank you. We'd be lost without your friendship. We're gonna go get ready. It's a big day!" Fitz hugged her once again and the three men started walking away, toward their own changing room.

Abby slowly opened the door and both Olivia and Lila turned their heads to her. "Liv? Fitz and the guys are here. He wanted me to give you some things." She rolled her eyes and grabbed her best friend in a hug. "He's so corny."

"He's gonna be my corny husband." Olivia said smiling. Abby gave Olivia the ancient looking penny and told her what Fitz had said about the year printed on it. Olivia took it as a good omen and dropped it into her white heeled shoe.

Lila stood up and said, "Well, I'm going to go and see what's what. Make sure everything is set up the way you want it. I'll be back later, baby."

"Bye, momma." Olivia said. Once her mother was gone, Olivia looked at Abby and Yvonne and said, "Why don't the two of you go put your dresses on and then you can help me with mine?"

A few minutes later the two of them came out of the changing room in their navy gowns. "The two of you look absolutely beautiful. I'm so glad I went with navy." Liv gushed as she walked around them. "Wearing our hair down was definitely a great idea. You look perfect!"

"Hell yes! We are going to rock these wedding pictures!" Yvonne said as she struck a pose.

Abby chuckled and asked Liv, "Ok. I think it's time to get you into that gorgeous dress. Are you ready?"

"Let's do this." Olivia said enthusiastically.

As soon as she had her dress on, Abby was fastening the buttons at her back and Olivia could hear a clicking sound. She looked over her shoulder and saw that Lisa was taking pictures of the two of them. "Just act naturally. Pretend I'm not even here." Lisa instructed.

Olivia turned back around and waited until Abby was done. "I don't think I missed any," Abby said as she re-checked the buttons. Satisfied that she had them all done correctly, Olivia turned around to face her and Yvonne.

"Wow, Liv. The pictures you showed us were beautiful, but seeing the dress on you in person is a whole other experience. You look..." Abby stuttered.

"Perfect." Yvonne supplied. "Absolutely flawless. And I'm not kissing your ass because you're my boss. That dress looks like it was tailor made for you."

"Thank you. My mother picked it out. It was exactly what I was looking for." Olivia said with a smile. She checked the time and saw that they had thirty minutes until show time. "Does my make-up look ok?"

"You are a lovely bride." Emma said from the doorway.

The three women looked over at Fitz's mother and Olivia said. "Thank you, Emma. Is everything ok?"

"I just came by to see you before Thad escorts me down the aisle. I'll only take a moment of your time but I have something for you."

"You're fine. Take all the time you need." Olivia said kindly. She followed Emma into the bigger room and saw a garment bag hanging up on the back of the door. "What is that?"

"It's a bridal cape. It's nothing fancy mind you." Emma said as she unzipped the front of the bag and pulled it out.

Olivia touched the white satin material lovingly. "It's beautiful."

"It was mine." Emma said. She watched Olivia pull her hand from the garment and give her a questioning look. "Thomas and I got married in the winter as well. We didn't have much money when we started out. But thankfully my mother was a seamstress. She made this for me to wear over my wedding gown to keep warm. I've had it cleaned last month. I'd like to loan it to you to wear today. If you'd like? If you don't want to it won't hurt my..."

"Yes," Olivia breathed. "I would be so honored to wear it, Emma. It would be my something borrowed." She gave her soon to be mother in law a watery smile and said, "It's the only thing I didn't have." The two women hugged each other warmly. Emma already loved Olivia like the daughter she never had. She knew her son was a lucky fool.

"Let's see how it looks on you, Liv," Abby offered.

Emma draped the floor length cape over Olivia's dress and tied it loosely under her chin as Lisa captured the moment on film. "It's breathtaking on you." Emma looked at Olivia and felt a touch of nostalgia from her own wedding day. It brought a smile to her lips. "This never would have worked for Robin. They got married in the summer for one. And she is a good foot taller than I am. Us petite girls have to stick together," she said with a wink.

"Thank you so much for letting me wear this, Emma. I promise to take care of it today." Olivia said, still misty eyed. She felt like a winter princess and looked like one too.

Just then the door flung open. "Did someone order a couple of beautiful flower girls?" Robin asked. Both of her daughters were wearing A line gold dresses with lots of tulle and a navy blue band at the waist. Their hair was curled and hung down their backs. They looked like beautiful little princesses.

"Don't you two look beautiful!" Emma declared proudly. She looked at the photographer and made her request. "I'm would like to have a few pictures of the girls together and separately please." The photographer nodded politely.

"Are we going on your wall of fame, Nana?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yes ma'am!" Her grandmother stated.

Abby handed Olivia the girls white baskets that were filled with rose petals. Olivia squatted down in front of the girls and said, "These are yours. Do you remember what to do with them?" The girls nodded their heads in unison. "Let me show you something. It's a secret though." She whispered. The girls leaned closer to her. "Do you see what's on the side of your baskets?"

Elizabeth and Megan looked closer and both of their faces lit up when they saw the familiar red and black thing there for all to see. "A ladybug!" They exclaimed excitedly.

"And do you know who put that on there for you?" She asked.

"Did you do it?" Megan asked.

Olivia shook her head sadly. "I wish I had thought of it, but it wasn't me. Any more guesses?"

"Uncle Fitz?" Elizabeth asked.

"That's right. Your uncle Fitz glued those lady bugs on your baskets all by himself. He said his ladybugs needed ladybug baskets." Olivia explained.

"He's the bestest uncle ever." Megan sang.

"I've got to go get seated. I'll see you in a few minutes." Emma winked at Olivia. "I'll be watching you girls. Give your Nana a smile if you see me in there." She kissed the tops of their heads and walked out the door, bumping into Olivia's father on the way. "Excuse me, Nathaniel."

"You look wonderful, Emma," he said before walking into the bridal room. The sight before him took his breath away. The two little girls were adorable in their gold dresses. Abby and Yvonne were stunning in their navy gowns. But the bride! His baby! She was...

There wasn't a word for how she looked. Beautiful was too much of an understatement.

He just stared at her and a tear ran down his cheek.

"Ok girls." Robin said softly. "It's time for you to go to the big door. The wedding will be starting in just a few minutes and you want to be where you're supposed to be standing. Remember?" The two girls nodded happily at their mother. They picked up their baskets, hugged Olivia goodbye, and followed their mom out the door.

"We're gonna go too, Liv." Abby said. "The girls will feel better if we are standing in our places too. Besides, I think your dad needs a minute alone with you." Abby and Yvonne grabbed their bouquets and left the room.

The photographer took a few pictures of Nathaniel's face, still transfixed at his daughter and then quietly left the room also.

"Dad. You must not have gotten the memo. Abby says this is a cry free zone. And if you don't stop I'll start." Her voice waivered. "And the wedding is about to start and I don't have time to fix my make-up so please don't cry."

Nathaniel shook his head a few times and wiped his cheek. "You're right. I'm sorry. You just look so...beautiful. That word isn't really big enough, but it'll have to do." He smiled at his daughter and she stepped to him, hugging him close. "You know, if you don't want to do this, we will leave. I mean it. We will get the hell out of here and..."

Olivia giggled at him and straightened his tie. "No, dad. Fitz is the one for me. I want my happily ever after with him."

He sighed dramatically and gave her his best smile. "Well then. Are you ready to go get married, Munchkin? I can still call you that, right?"

"Dad. I'd be heartbroken if you didn't." Olivia admitted.

"Well then. Let's go get this wedding started." Olivia looped her arm through his and they walked down the hall that led to the large wooden door to the church sanctuary. They stood to the right of the big door so they wouldn't be seen when it opened for the rest of the wedding party.

Elizabeth and Megan were at the front of the line, standing beside the pastor's wife, who was having a lively conversation with them and giving them last minute reminders. Yvonne was just behind the girls and was holding onto Charlie's arm. Abby was behind Yvonne and had her arm looped through Thad's. They all looked amazing.

Organ music could be heard playing from inside.

The doors opened and the girls started walking slowly down the aisle tossing rose petals on the floor as they went.

Thad looked over at Olivia and whispered, "You look gorgeous, Olivia."

"I second that. Fitzy is a lucky guy." Charlie chimed in.

"Thank you both." Olivia said smiling at them.

The pastor's wife signaled Yvonne and Charlie and they slowly made their way toward the alter. A minute later she signaled Abby and Thad and they followed suit. Once they were through the door, the pastor's wife closed it and Olivia and Nathaniel moved to stand in front of it. The pastor's wife fluffed out the bride's dress and train and made sure both father and daughter looked perfect.

Olivia gripped her father's arm a little tighter, the butterflies in her stomach finally making themselves known. He looked over at his daughter and said in a quiet voice, "Are you ready?"

She closed her eyes, took a deep calming breath, and smiled at her father. "That word really isn't big enough, but it'll have to do."

The big door opened and the swell of the wedding march began to play from the organ at the front of the church. Everyone stood up and looked at the two of them. Nathaniel patted her hand and said, "Let's go get my baby her happily ever after."

 **To be continued and concluded...**


	54. Mr & Mrs Grant

Special shout out to B for being a listening ear & an entertaining conversationalist. It means the world!

Mr. & Mrs. Grant

The big door opened and the swell of the wedding march began to play from the organ at the front of the church. Everyone stood up and looked at the two of them. Nathaniel patted her hand and said, "Let's go get my baby her happily ever after."

Both of them put on big smiles and slowly walked down the rose petal covered aisle. Olivia saw so many familiar faces standing in front of the wooden pews. And all of them were smiling at her. Some commented on how beautiful she looked. Some took pictures of her and her dad. And while she was so happy to have them there to share this special day with her, she just wanted to get to Fitz. The anticipation was killing her.

Olivia saw Fitz standing at the end of the aisle. Her breath caught, and for a moment all she could see was him. He looked so handsome in his tuxedo. He looked taller too somehow. His shoes gleamed with a perfect shine. He had his hands clasped in front of his body as he patiently waited for her. His hair was perfectly styled and the curls she always loved to touch looked very inviting to her hands. And his face. His ruggedly handsome face with his beautiful blue eyes had tears flowing from them. Even though he was smiling at her. His genuine love filled smile. It made her quicken her steps, but her father held her hand and tightened his grip on her, reminding her of the wedding pace. Her steps slowed, but the closer they got, she couldn't help it. Olivia speed walked the rest of the way to stand beside him. Chuckles were heard throughout the old church building.

From the moment Fitz heard the music change, his attention was focused solely on that closed door. When it finally opened the vision that stood there, and then proceeded to walk towards him left him breathless. This divine, incredibly gorgeous woman was going to be his wife in a matter of minutes. The pride he felt in the realization of that knew no bounds in that moment. He wanted to run to her. Or carry her the rest of the way. Her dad would probably kill him if he tried though.

Her dress was stunning on her perfect little body. It accentuated her curves in all the right ways without being flashy. He wondered if she knew that he had been the one to suggest it to Lila the morning they went shopping when he sent her a picture of it? Probably not. It didn't matter now. The picture of the dress had been beautiful, but seeing Olivia in it was the most incredible thing he had ever witnessed. Her hair hung in loose waves past her shoulders. Just like it did on the day they met. He wondered if she had done it on purpose? Her make-up was perfect and the smile on her face that he knew was solely for him brought tears to his eyes. His soon to be wife looked exactly how he imagined she would. Spectacular.

When Olivia hurriedly reached the alter, one of Fitz's perfectly clasped hands broke free and reached for her. She stood beside her father but took his offered hand and felt him rub circles on it. Her heart swelled and she let go of his hand and wiped his cheeks. She leaned close to him and whispered, "This is a cry free zone."

"You look so...elegant. I am the luckiest man in the world." He said as he brought her hand up to his lips and kissed it. "You're gonna marry me today."

Olivia smiled at him, feeling the tears threatening to spill out of her eyes. "I got all dressed up. I gotta marry somebody."

"Don't cry, babe. You'll ruin your make-up. Besides, this is a cry free zone." Fitz winked at her, stifling her water works.

The two of them were impervious to anyone else in the building. Until Nathaniel cleared his throat to bring them back to the moment. Still they held hands.

The pastor smiled kindly at them and said, "We are gathered here today in the sight of God, and the presence of friends and loved ones, to celebrate one of life's greatest moments. We are here to give recognition to the worth and beauty of love, and to add our best wishes and blessings to the words that will unite Olivia Carolyn Pope and Fitzgerald Thomas Grant in holy matrimony. Who gives this woman to be married?"

Nathaniel quietly cleared his throat and loudly told the elderly man, "Her mother and I."

Olivia kissed her father's cheek lovingly and wiped the tear that had escaped. "Cry free zone." She reminded him.

He quietly nodded in reply and took Olivia's hand out of his own and placed it into Fitz's. He whispered to his soon to be son in law, "Take care of my girl."

"Yes, Sir. I will." Fitz whispered back and shook his hand. The happy couple stepped up to the platform, still holding hands and faced each other as Olivia's dad took his seat beside his wife.

The pastor continued. "Fitzgerald and Olivia, marriage is the most important of all earthly relationships. It should be entered into reverently, thoughtfully, and with full understanding of its sacred nature. Your marriage must stand by the strength of your love and the power of faith in each other and in God. Just as two threads woven in opposite directions form a beautiful tapestry, so to your two lives when merged together will make a beautiful marriage. Fitzgerald and Olivia have written their own vows."

Fitz let go of one of her hands, pulled a piece of paper from his jacket pocket, and took a deep breath. "I promise to take you in my arms when you need to be held. And let you sleep in your happy place every night without complaint. I will defend your honor, even if that means taking out my brother in laser tag. I promise to laugh with you and at you, but only when it's appropriate. I promise to love you for who you are, and help you become all that you can be. That means more cooking lessons. We will always have late night dessert, even if we have to wait until the kids are put to bed first. I promise that we will never run out of coffee. And that we will go back to the beach every summer, but will never parasail. I promise you that Rob will never live with us again. And I promise to lub you more each day than I did the one before."

Olivia let go of the breath she had been holding. She would not cry, she told herself. Not yet. She looked up into his gorgeous blue eyes and felt the emotion behind his words. She was going to grow old with this crazy man and love him until her dying breath. She loved him so much. She closed her eyes and took another breath while Fitz returned the paper into his pocket. Once Olivia had her tear ducts under control, she pulled out a similar piece of paper from her bouquet. Fitz gave her a surprised look and she just smiled at him.

"I promise to stand by your side and sleep in your arms. I will do my best to encourage your weird admiration for Duff Goldman in any way that I can. I promise to love you, encourage you, trust you, and respect you. I will occasionally throw a game of bowling so you can win too. I promise to share my hopes and dreams with you and eventually start our own family together. But we are not in competition with your brother. I will look search for a nurse outfit in case you get sick, but vow to stock up on Vitamin C so that you never do. I will do my absolute best to only pack one bag when you ask me to. I only want to make lasagna with you like we did the last time. And last but not least, I promise to love you more than you can possibly imagine."

Apparently most of the guests in attendance didn't get the no crying memo either. There wasn't a dry eye in the house after the two of them read their vows to each other. The pastor smiled at the pair who were obviously so much in love with each other. He looked at Fitz and said, "Fitzgerald, do you take Olivia to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

Fitz kissed her hands again and said, "I do."

"Do you promise to love, honor, cherish, and protect her, forsaking all others and holding only unto her forevermore?"

Fitz smiled at Olivia and said, "I do."

"Olivia, do you take Fitzgerald to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do." She said as she rubbed his hand.

"Do you promise to love, honor, cherish, and protect him, forsaking all others and holding only unto him forevermore?"

"I do."

"Do the two of you have rings?" He asked. When both of them nodded the pastor continued. "The ring is a symbol of the unbroken circle of love. Love freely given has no beginning and no end. May these rings always remind you of the vows you have taken."

Fitz turned to his brother to get Olivia's wedding band from him.

The pastor spoke and Fitz repeated the words to Olivia as he took off her engagement ring and slid the band onto her finger and then put the engagement ring back on. "I, Fitzgerald Thomas Grant, take you, Olivia Pope to be my wife. To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, for better or worse, and I promise my love to you. With this ring, I take you as my wife, for as long as we both shall live."

Olivia brought her hand up, showing off her wedding set, in front of her face and smiled big as Lisa snapped the photo and the guests laughed. She gave Abby her bridal bouquet, got Fitz's ring from her, and turned back to face him. She slid the band over his knuckle as she repeated these words. "I, Olivia Carolyn Pope, take you, Fitzgerald Grant to be my husband. To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, for better or worse, and I promise my love to you. With this ring, I take you as my husband, for as long as we both shall live."

The pastor said, "Let us pray. We ask for your blessings upon this man and woman, as we celebrate this momentous occasion in their lives. Bless this happy couple as they begin their journey together as man and wife. Grant them happiness and contentment as they learn to navigate life together. Bless their families and friends who have supported, strengthened, and sustained them throughout their lives. Bless their home as a place of love and peace. And if times grow hard and tempers grow short, help them to remember the love that brought them here today. Amen.

By the powers vested in me I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss your..."

"Come here, wife." Fitz said, cutting off the pastor and eagerly pulling her into his arms and dipping her slightly. He tenderly brushed his lips across hers, being very mindful of her make-up. He pulled her back to standing up, the thunderous applause barely registering in either of their ears. They gave each other big happy smiles and held onto each other as they finally faced the congregation.

"I present to you, Mr. And Mrs. Fitzgerald Grant." The pastor proudly proclaimed.

Everyone in attendance stood up and clapped loudly for the beautiful couple. The organ began to play once again, a happy tune, and Olivia got her bouquet from Abby, looped her arm through her husbands, and the two of them made their way towards the door. They stopped at Lila and Nathaniel first and they both gave the newlyweds hugs amid happy tears.

"We finally got a son." Nathaniel said. Fitz grinned at him and hugged his neck once gain.

Lila took the direct route. "You two know what needs to be done tonight, right? I want grandbabies!"

"Momma! We're in church!" Olivia said with a shocked giggle.

"Jesus knows I want grandchildren. It's not a secret, baby."

Fitz laughed heartily at his mother in law and whispered, "I'll do my best."

Olivia's eyes went wide and she covered her mouth with her hand and said, "Fitz!" It made him laugh even more.

They walked over to where Thomas and Emma were proudly standing and Fitz hugged his mother tightly. "Do not screw this up, Fitzgerald. If you do, we are keeping her and getting rid of you."

"Yes ma'am." Fitz dutifully replied with a smile. "I'm never letting her go."

"That's my boy." She said with a smile of her own. She hugged Olivia and said, "Welcome to the family, dear. We are so happy that you are finally a Grant."

"Me too, Emma. Thank you." Olivia replied from her arms.

The rest of the walk out was giving high fives to friends, shaking hands, and sharing smiles with others. Once they walked through the door and were standing in the vestibule, Olivia let go of his hand and wrapped her arms around his neck, finally touching 'her curls' at the back of his neck. Fitz looked down at her and just marveled at her like the very first time they had met. Using the hand on the back of his neck, Olivia pulled his face closer to hers and rubbed noses with him. "Hi, husband" she whispered.

The grin on his face exploded, and he reached a hand up to caress her cheek. "Hi, wife."

"We're married!" She quietly exclaimed to him, through her delirious smiles.

"Finally! I have waited a really long time for you." He admitted, holding her tightly.

"I thought you would never come find me," Olivia confessed. "But now that you have, I'm never letting you go."

"Not even for cake, Mrs. Grant?" Fitz teased.

"Say that again." She said dreamily with her eyes closed.

Fitz, who loved all of her facial expressions, decided that this one was his new favorite. Blissfully happy newlywed Olivia. He couldn't wait to get her alone. "I love you, Mrs. Grant."

Olivia released a contented sigh and her husband took the opportunity to kiss her. Their tongues happily played together as their lips tried to consume each other. Their hands couldn't hold the other one close enough. It was starting to get heated, but neither of them cared.

Until...

"You two sure know how to attract a crowd." Thad stated.

Immediately the newly married couple broke apart and noticed a large group of people standing around them. Watching with grins and sharing smirks amongst each other. Olivia took Fitz's hand and sarcastically replied, "Thad, you're my brother in law so I can say this now. Shut up!"

Fitz roared with laughter and followed his tiny wife to the front of the church for pictures. Stephen pulled Fitz aside as they reached the alter to get placed for the photos. "Look, mate. She is going to make you want to pull your hair out before it's over. She is going to take pictures from every possible angle until you feel like you will absolutely die of old age. Hang in there though and keep your smile on your face. Your wife will make it worth your while later on."

"Thanks, Stephen. But unlike you, I'm actually really photogenic and I don't mind having my picture taken." Fitz winked at his friend and walked away chuckling.

"I give him twenty minutes and he'll be whining," Stephen told a grinning Abby who was standing beside him.

The wedding pictures were pretty much a blur to Fitz. It was him & Olivia. Them with her parents. Them with his parents. Them with both sets of parents. Him with the groomsmen. Him with the bridesmaids; which he really liked. The three of them took serious pictures as well as goofy ones. They had always been Liv's friends and support system and were special to her. So they were special to him too for that reason. Him and Liv with the flower girls. And on and on. But he didn't mind. Or complain once. For the most part, he got to keep his arm around his new wife, and Fitz could never complain when in that position.

Pictures were finally done and the wedding party slowly headed downstairs for the reception. Olivia asked Lisa if she would mind taking a few pictures of just the two of them outside? She smiled knowingly and said, "Of course. I would love to. A picture of both of you with you wearing the cape would make a lovely gift to your mother in law."

Olivia asked Abby if she would mind coming with them, to help out with her dress. She agreed, naturally, and went to get Olivia's cape from the bridal room. "You got a wedding cape?" Fitz asked.

"Your mother came the bridal room before the wedding and loaned it to me. It was the one she wore when she married your dad. I'd really like to give her a picture of us outside while I'm wearing it. I hope you don't mind?"

"I think she would love that. We might even make it on her wall of fame?" He joked.

Outside it was freezing and the ground was white, but the harsh winter wind had apparently taken the day off. Lisa took them not too far from the front door of the church. There was a large snow covered tree with a swing attached to one of the branches. Lisa wiped the snow from the seat of the swing and invited Olivia to sit down on it. She instructed Fitz to stand in front of her and push the swing ropes back until her face was even with his. Olivia held onto the cold ropes and touched her lips to his in a tender kiss as Lisa snapped pictures. It had started snowing lightly so they moved quickly to stand in front of the snow covered trees. Abby made sure her friend's dress was in place and then moved out of the way. Lisa raved about how beautiful it looked. After getting a few of those in various poses, they small frozen group quickly headed inside.

Abby and Lisa moved quicker than Fitz and Olivia, knowing the wedding party wanted to announce the happy couple as Mr. And Mrs. to everyone in attendance. Every happy moment was captured on film. While dinner was eaten, their friends bundled up and went outside to 'decorate' the getaway car. Condoms, toilet paper, shaving cream, and glitter were just some of the items used to decorate the inside and outside of the car. That was captured on film as well and the pictures would be brought out often as proof of who did what.

Once everyone was back inside and dinner was over, the couple were directed to cut their wedding cake. It was a beautiful five tiered creation, each layer adorned with a gold lace ribbon and a navy blue pearl border around the bottom edges. The tiers alternated in a pattern of shorter, solid navy blue tiers and taller white tiers with gold Swiss dots, starting and ending with navy blue. A gold topper with the words AT LAST sat front and center on the top tier. It was gorgeous. Olivia looked around the room for Charlotte and when she made eye contact with her, she asked her to join them for a picture next to the cake. Charlotte bashfully and begrudgingly obliged them.

Olivia hugged her neck and said, "Thank you for making this gorgeous cake. It's absolutely perfect!"

Charlotte smiled proudly and said, "You're welcome" before hastily returning to her seat.

Fitz put his hand over Olivia's and the they cut two small pieces of cake from the bottom tier that they were about to feed each other. They eyed one another with guarded expressions; knowing exactly what the other was worried about. Olivia was the first to speak up. "If you smear cake all over my face, it will be the last thing you do, Fitzgerald Grant."

Fitz's grin got bigger at her strong warning. "As if I would." He said smirking.

The two of them took a cautious closer to each other, both still skeptical of their newly wedded spouse. They both lifted the cake between their fingers and hesitantly and very slowly moved it toward the other's mouth with their eyes locked on each other. Olivia gingerly placed the cake into Fitz's open mouth as he did the same to her. Both released a heavy breath as they chewed the sweet fluffy cake through smiles and camera flashes.

Someone continued cutting cake for the guests while Fitz and Olivia picked up their champagne flutes and intertwined their arms. "Please don't spill it on me, Mrs. Grant." Fitz teased.

"I'm going to make you say that to me every single day from now on." She said smiling. "And...you don't spill any on me either. I'm wearing white!"

"And now the nagging starts," Fitz said rolling his eyes dramatically.

"Ummm, hello? Would you like to go to Aruba with me?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I did just vow to make fun of you when it's appropriate." He said smiling. "But I do love you."

"Our wedding day is not appropriate." She said chuckling. "I love you more."

"It's not possible. Shut up and kiss me, Mrs. Grant." He commanded. Olivia happily complied and both of them lifted their glasses and drank from them as more pictures were taken. "Can we get out of here yet?" He whispered.

Olivia laughed at him, set their glasses down, and wrapped her arms around his neck. "No! We still have to open our gifts and have our first dance as husband and wife and throw the bouquet and the garter."

"Fine! But as soon as that crap gets flung, we are out of here, Liv. I mean it!"

"You're such a baby." She laughed.

"My next wedding is going to be at the courthouse." He said making a disgusted face. "Over and done with quick."

Olivia pinched him. "Do you really want all of our family and friends watch me kick your ass while wearing a wedding gown? Because I'll do it."

"You're cute when you're angry. Feisty too." He eyed her up and down and licked his lips.

"Keep it in your pants, perv. You'll be lucky to get laid at all on this honeymoon with that attitude. You'd better change your ways." She watched, mesmerized, as his tongue poke out of his mouth and slid across his lips. She imagined that magical tongue of his doing magical things south of her body and a small moan tumbled out of her throat.

Fitz knew that look on her face. And he was going to take advantage of it. Right now! "I need to...talk to you about something. It's important."

"Now?" She asked surprised.

"Right now!" He commanded. He looked over at his brother and told him, "I've got to talk to Olivia privately. Please explain that if anyone asks where we went. Thanks."

Abby caught sight of the couple leaving and saw Fitz talking to Thad. She didn't entirely trust him, so she kept her eye on him until they returned.

"Whatever you say, big brother." Thad said smirking. He watched Fitz practically drag Olivia out of the reception room. Yea. Chances of them talking were about as high as the chance he'd win the lottery. He went to go look for Olivia's dad to ask him if he'd seen the bride.

"Fitz? Where are we going? You can tell me whatever it is right here?"

Instead of answering her, Fitz pulled her into a dark room and attacked her mouth. He was careful not to mess up her hair, but he wanted her right now! All of that other shit would just have to wait until they were done in here. He moaned into her mouth. He had behaved like a saint all day long. He wanted a reward of some kind. Instead of using his words, he pulled away from her mouth and said, "Just give me a minute. I really can't wait. And you eye fucking me in there isn't helping things." When she grinned at him, Fitz knew he had her right where he wanted her.

He squatted down in front of her and pulled up the miles of white fabric, handing it to his wife to hold. "Ohmygod," Fitz breathed out. "My wife is a dirty little nympho. You got married to me with no panties on? Really, Liv?"

Olivia smiled knowingly. She knew he would never make it all the way to Aruba without sex. Hell, she didn't think he'd make it back to their house. She knew her guy and had planned accordingly. Before she could reply to him, he threw one of her legs over his shoulder and started feasting on her core with reckless abandon. When she let out a rather loud noise, Fitz reached a hand up and stuck one of his fingers in her mouth. She held onto it with one hand and the other gripped his curls. She sucked on it enthusiastically wishing it was something else entirely. He felt her getting close to exploding and doubled his efforts. He hoped she didn't scream, but knew that was a useless hope. Trying to think of how to stifle it, he replaced his tongue with his finger. He then stood up and kissed her passionately, hoping to absorb her sounds into his mouth. A few seconds later he discovered that it mostly worked. Fitz figured with the reception in full swing, no one would hear anything anyways.

Olivia drooped her head onto his shoulder, let go of the bunched up material, and tried to even out her breathing. "I'm never wearing underwear again." She declared with a satisfied smile.

Fitz chuckled at her and pecked her lips once more. "I'm going to like being married to you, Mrs. Grant."

"I guess now is a good time to tell you I just made fifty bucks."

"Really? How?"

"I bet Abby that we wouldn't make it to the house." Fitz roared with laughter and held her close. "Married life suits us very well. At least you won't have to spend your winnings on underwear." He said wiggling his eyebrows at her.

"Come on. We're the guests of honor. Everyone will notice that we have left the reception." He helped her fix her dress and made sure she was presentable. Olivia did the same for him and they headed for the door.

Fitz turned the knob and four people fell into the dark room laughing. Fitz and Olivia jumped back and watched their friends to hit the floor. "What the hell are you guys doing?"

"We could ask you the same question." Yvonne said with a smirk.

"Yea. What are the two of you doing?" Charlie asked.

"It's awfully dark in here. Who talks in a dark room of a church?" Thad asked sarcastically.

"Who leaves their own reception to get laid?" Abby asked laughing. She pulled a bill out of her bag and handed it to Liv. "You definitely earned this."

Olivia covered her face with her hand. Fitz grinned at the creepers. "Get up you nosy weirdos. I was just...stealing a moment with my wife. There's no harm in that." That explanation sounded pretty damn good in Fitz's opinion, and he smiled at his quick thinking.

"Yeaaa, but then there's the exchange of money between them," Charlie said pointing.

"And I'm pretty sure we heard something about underwear." Yvonne said.

"Fitz. Reception." Olivia ordered walking towards the door, passing their laughing 'friends'. "And if you wouldn't lick your damn lips all the damn time, we wouldn't have to have these...talks."

The laughter grew tremendously louder and Fitz had joined in by this time. "But babe, I love having these talks with you." He said to her retreating back. "You guys fuck up everything." He quietly scolded with a grin. "Let's go."

Rob dashed outside laughing the whole way.

"Olivia. I was looking for you." Nathaniel said. "They want to play the music for your first dance as husband and wife." Olivia nodded happily and cut her eyes to her husband. She was thankful her father hadn't been the one to discover them.

The music started and Fitz held Olivia's hand and led her to the middle of the room. He held onto her waist with his right hand and gracefully held her dainty hand in his left one. As they slowly swayed Fitz couldn't help but peck her lips and say, "I love you so much."

Olivia smiled up at him and laid her head on his chest. "This has been the perfect day, hasn't it?"

"It's been great so far. But perfect is an exaggeration right now." He corrected.

She picked up her head and looked him in the eye. "What about it wasn't perfect for you? I wanted you to love it and be as happy as I am with how everything turned out."

"The wedding was everything I wanted it to be. You look completely enchanting. Everyone who was in the wedding looked great too. Hell, I look great. The flowers, the cake, this moment. It has all been wonderful."

"But not perfect?"

He leaned close to her ear and whispered, "When we get home and I make love to my wife for the first time, then it will be the perfect day." Fitz felt her relax in his arms and took the opportunity to capture her lips in a sweet kiss.

When they broke out of the kiss, Olivia whispered to him, "Let's hurry up and throw the garter and bouquet so we can leave. I'm getting ideas now."

"I do love a woman who thinks." He said with a smirk. "I'll ask the guys to load up the car with our gifts and we can open them when we get back from our trip. Let's go."

All of the single ladies lined up behind Olivia as she held onto the small bouquet of flowers she would toss. There weren't many of them, but Yvonne was front and center reminding her boss of where she was standing by constantly calling her name. Fitz chuckled as he watched Yvonne's gaze lock in on Olivia's arm with tunnel vision. "Ready?" Olivia asked. "One, two, three!" She flung the flowers over her shoulder without peeking and turned around quickly to watch her assistant snatch the flying roses out of the air and grin triumphantly. Everyone politely clapped. Except for one of the other women from the office, who was about to catch the bouquet. She was shooting daggers at Yvonne.

A chair was brought out for Olivia to sit in, which she did. Fitz grinned and rubbed his hands together anxiously. "Just warming them up for you, babe."

One of the four creepers from earlier said, "Have you washed them recently?" The other three snickered at the comment. Fitz and Olivia chose to ignore them, but their growing smiles proved that it was a difficult task.

He reached up her leg very carefully, knowing he was under the watchful eye of her father, as well as everyone else in attendance. Fitz tried to forget that there was no barrier between his wandering fingers and her core. Olivia saw his eyes start to glaze over and knew he was feeling tormented. He felt the garter with his right index finger and passed by it with his left hand saying, "How high up did you place the garter, Mrs. Grant? We have guests here."

Olivia blushed, knowing he had found it already. And also knowing he was up to no good. She felt his hand traveling further up her thigh and she shook her head. "You're getting colder."

She heard him quietly mutter, "I don't think so" and chose to ignore him. As his right hand grabbed the garter, his left one snaked up between her legs and his pinky quickly grazed her skin there before pulling both hands out from under the dress with the garter around his wrist. He held his hand out to help her stand up and Fitz noticed her biting on her lip. They needed to get out of there soon! "Line up guys!" He said urgently.

Fitz positioned one end of the garter at his fingertip. He stretched the elastic blue material and pulled it up to his shoulder, facing away from the males. Without any flair or warning he let it fly and quickly kissed Olivia while she watched the guys try to get it. One of the kids from the bakery caught it and proudly grinned from ear to ear, waving it around in front of the others.

"Can we please go now?" Fitz quietly begged.

"MmmmHmmm. Let me grab my bouquet and you can take me."

An evil grin spread across Fitz's face. "I love it when you talk dirty to me, wife."

"The car ride home should be a very intersting one for you then, husband. As I said before, I have plans." She grinned back. He told her to hurry and she disappeared to grab her flowers.

At the front door of the church the newlyweds dashed outside amid red rose petals floating in the air around them. They hugged their parents with happy smiles and headed for their car. They stopped abruptly and stared at their vehicle. Wild laughter came from behind them and neither one of them needed to look back to see exactly who it was.

An opened condom impaled on the short antenna. Just Married was written on the front window. Mrs was written on the passenger window and Mr was on the driver's side. Fitz opened the door for Olivia and several balloons of every color, each with a condom inside of them floated up to the sky. Once she was settled inside and her dress was nowhere near the door, he closed it behind her and walked around the back of the car. As he rounded the back, Fitz looked at the window. It said Lets Talk across it. He glanced up at the creepers and gave them the thumbs up and a grin before continuing to his own door. It was freezing outside, so as soon as Fitz started on the car, he turned on the heat. Gold glitter flew out from the vents at a rapid pace.

Olivia held her hands up and scrunched up her face as it was pelted with the little shiny pieces. She pushed a button beside her and looked at the fools laughing at them in the cold. "Lisa, did you get pictures of whoever decorated our car?" She asked nicely.

The photographer smiled widely and said, "Of course. I documented all aspects of the wedding."

Looking at their friends Liv said, "Payback is a bitch, people. When we get back we are getting even with ALL of the perpetrators." She rolled up her window laughing evilly.

"You still got plans, babe?" Fitz asked nervously.

"Bet your fine ass, Mister. Let's go!" He pulled away from the church and both of them rolled down their windows, setting free all of the balloons with happy laughter.

How they made it home in one piece was a wonder. Fitz had his glitter covered tuxedo jacket off and his shirt was completely unbuttoned and hanging off of his shoulders. His tie however, still hung loosely around his neck. The right side of his neck had been effectively marked by her mouth, teeth, and lipstick. His hair was in complete disarray, curls sticking up in all directions. He was grinning like a madman. A madman who wanted more. He looked delicious to Olivia and she wasn't shy to admit that she was responsible for his look. In fact she was openly smiling at her handiwork when they pulled into the driveway.

Olivia wasn't in much better shape. The left side of her dress had been pulled down her shoulder and her breast exposed. Thanks to red lights that Fitz made a point to stop at along the way home, it was marked up thoroughly too. Her lips were swollen and her lipstick was smeared past the corners of her mouth. Her loose flowing waves were bunched up on one side of her head. Her dress was wrinkled almost beyond recognition.

Fitz got out of the car and skipped around to the passenger side. As is. It was nippy out, but he didn't notice. They had two hours before they had to leave for the airport to catch their flight to Aruba. He planned on making the most of every minute until then. He opened her door and wondered for a moment what to do with her. His wife was half dressed, breast exposed, but giggling deliriously. He grinned at her and leaned in for a quick kiss. She grabbed the back of his head and tried unsuccessfully to pull him back in the car. "We're going to make it onto our bed, woman. Stop trying to molest me, pervert."

"Ok. Let's go then." She got out of her seat, breast hanging in the winter afternoon, and started walking towards their door. Fitz laughed and commented on her new look as he followed her and took off his tie and put it around her neck and over her breast. She laughed at this addition to her wardrobe, but it did cover what needed to be covered. When they reached the porch, both of them were laughing hysterically about their various state of undress.

At the front door, Fitz picked her up in his arms and kissed her passionately. "I'm going to carry you over the threshold now. It's what real men do. Please don't let your frozen nipple cut my face though." She laughed loudly and almost fell out of his arms. A loud clearing throat could be heard from behind them. The newlyweds froze in their tracks, and then slowly turned around to see who it was.

Their neighbor, Charles, stood two feet away with a wrapped package in his hands. Why the hell was he always stumbling upon these two when they are ready to pounce on each other. He shook his head and the thoughts of them that threatened to invade his mind. Was she wearing a tie over her...Nope. He made himself look at their shoes. They still had their shoes on, so he looked there. "I wasn't able to attend your wedding because today one of my grandkids had his birthday party. So I thought I'd bring your gift over here and leave it on your porch. Buuuuut this happened. Again." He muttered.

Charles looked at them a little more closely. Fitz had his hands full holding her, and he wasn't not going anywhere near Olivia. She was basically nude from the waist up. No way! "I'll just...leave it on the porch. Enjoy your honeymoon." He set the package down and walked back home.

Fitz and Olivia giggled. Poor Charles. "Let's invite him over for dinner one night when we get back. It'll be fun." She turned the doorknob and Fitz kicked the door open grinning.

 **To anyone who read my story, left a review, talked about it on social media, or listened to my crazy ideas...THANK YOU! I have enjoyed writing this story so much. I will be starting a sequel to this story soon & hope you all will follow along with Fitz & Liv as they figure out married life, pregnancy, and smushy babies! They deserve that kinda life. Thank you again.**


End file.
